Can we keep it, Huh, Huh Dad

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

An owl appeared at my front door last night. There’s a nesting pair next door, so it is one it their youngsters. Anyway, it was accompanied by at least six neighborhood cats. My wife, who’s vision impared, told me that there were a bunch of cats outside surrounding a brown blob of some sort. I got her to guard it whilst I got my owl handling gloves (new pair of leather gloves). It was on it’s side, eyes closed, Upon picking it up, it opened one eye, then the other. It was still limp, but at least alive. I sent my blind wife off to fetch the cat carrier from a closet in the garage. A loud crash told me she used the express method to empty the closet. After a short pause, while my wife picked out the right color towel for the owlery, it was safe and sound in the carrier. My son, Wendy Who like, came out to see what was going on. He wanted to know if we could keep it, and if it could carry letters back and forth from his Grandmother’s (Harry Potter reference, BTW).

Of course you cannot keep an owl. They’re a bird of prey and off limits. Since I live in a fairly big city (Dallas, TX), there are a few birds of prey rescue groups in the area. So it will be going bye-bye today.

This morning, it is sitting upright, looking around with its big yellow eyes. I’m going to try to see if it can fly, and maybe go home on it’s own. My neighbor does not know where the owls roost, plus I don’t want to disturb the nest anyway.

2

Awww, poor little guy. My hubby rescued an owl once that seemed to be sick. The wildlife rehabilitator he took it to said it seemed to have been poisoned, but she’d try to help it out. I never called to see if it made it because I couldn’t stand the idea of finding out it didn’t. I hope yours will be okay!

3

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!! We were worried about Cousin George/tte!

Seriously, thank you for being careful, and above all, practical. They are protected by law, need very special care and diets* and more importantly, must not be imprinted. Losing the fear of humans is a bad thing for an animal, since it will not likely be accepted by its wild kin again (Merlin for example, unfortunately lost an eye because of this when other wild owls attacked him).

Even moreso, once grown, they become quite an handful attitude wise, not to mention the absolutly vile stench they extrude ---- ahem, your truly excluded, I am quite fanatical about cleanliness, thankyouverymuch.

They are cute, they are adorable (thankyouverymuchagain), but they are not pets. On the plus side, most owls love palmetto bugs, mole crickets, and other small insects, so you have a built-in ‘Orkin man’ in your neighborhood. Just don’t use any more pesticides than absolutlely necessary, and if you do have to use them, read the darned directions**.

Take the little one to the rehab center, as sometimes not all injuries are readily apparent (viruses, parasites, and the like, not to mention small broken bones heal very quickly, and one day can mean the difference between flying again or staying grounded.

Good luck, and thanks again.
screech-owl
(who is also looking forward to seeing what types of owls show up in the Harry Potter movie)

  • We have several owls at the rehab center that were fed on chicken livers, tuna, shrimp, milk, oatmeal, you name it [everything but what they really need] by well-meaning but misguided people.

** We just had dozens of birds (pigeons, grackles, songbirds) adrop dead at Lake Eola (downtown Orlando park) when a park worker sprayed Diazenon full-strength instead of diluting it, as per the directions. Idiot.