Owl Omens - Good or Bad?

I have made a new friend in the past couple weeks.  She is talkative, lively, friendly, and from Romania.  We've been talking about owls.  She knew about owls in Romania where she lived in the northeast quadrant.  in the northwest quadrant was Transylvania, the home of Dracula's castle.  She said her husband wanted to tour the castle but she didn't because of the owls.  Near the castle are many owls living in the deep woods.  In Romania, the tradition is that if you hear an owl in your home at night, someone in the house will die soon.  To prevent the death someone in the house would throw bread out of the door when the owl hooted.  So the high population of owls is why my friend didn't want to visit the castle.  Now I've heard owls outside my house at night.  I've heard barred owls hooting back and forth in conversation.  I could hear them moving from tree to tree while they were talking.  And I felt blessed to hear them; not at all worried about a death in the future.  I've never heard of the owl/death legend before.  According to a BBC article I read this week, the owl/death legend isn't just for Romania. It is also known in Chile.  But they are finding the opposite is true.  In Chile some of the rats are carrying a virus that doesn't hurt the rats but can be fatal to humans.  To combat this rat born infection, one of the solutions is to encourage the owl populations that prey on the rats.  So in Chile, if you hear an owl hooting outside your house, it could be a sign that you have a greater chance of escaping the virus and living rather than dying.  In fact, other than vultures circling above me if I was staked to the ground, I really don't fear owls or birds of any kind.  If an owl hoots near my house at night, I'll get up and start hooting back at it while counting my blessings.  I gladly offer up any voles, mice and rabbits that happen to inhabit my yard to hear an owl hoot.