SNN (ScrollingNetworkNews) ✿ ✿ Our Mel and Sydney returned to their nesting box with plenty of bonding occurring..but after 2.5 months of Sydney in the box from Dec 2013 to mid Feb 2014, the lack of prey gifts from Mel ( perhaps due to the severe and historic drought underway in California)and they have forgone the nesting process this year as many other raptors ✿ Compared to other owls of similar size, the Barn Owl has a much higher metabolic rate, requiring relatively more food. Pound for pound, Barn Owls consume more rodents – often regarded as pests by humans – than possibly any other creature. ✿ We remind viewers that sometimes owlets may not survive - the parents will dispose of things in "The Owl Way" -viewer discretion is advised, this is nature and the "Owl way". ✿ ~ ✿ “Animals, like us, are living souls. They are not things. They are not objects. Neither are they human. Yet they mourn. They love. They dance. They suffer. They know the peaks and chasms of being.” ― Gary Kowalski, The Souls of Animals ✿ Each species is a masterpiece, a creation assembled with extreme care and genius." ~ E.O. Wilson

Friday, October 21, 2011

Diana & CRC

Diana and Artemus
The Cascades Raptor Center was founded in 1987.  The center specializes in rescuing, rehabilitating, and releasing injured birds back to the wild when possible, and providing a long term habitat for them if they cannot be released into the wild because of their injuries or imprinting on humans.
Permanent inhabitants of the center include 60 individuals from 33 species.
Diana the resident Barn Owl Surrogate mother owl ( from the King Estate Winery story)
Diana was found on Highway 99 in West Eugene OR in November 1994. She was thin, with a fresh concussion and head injury as well as an older fracture in the left wing tip which did not heal well enough for release. Although somewhat nervous around people, Diana was the first adult barn owl that Artemus tolerated, so we kept her for companionship. They were a bonded pair for 14 years and raised dozens of foster young together. After his death in 2008, at the age of 17, we moved Diana off display to a permanent rehabilitation enclosure, where she has continued to be a stellar foster mom for many orphaned barn owls, including over 40 in 2011 alone.
Now that's what I call a mother
King Estate Winery and the Cascades Raptor Center have a special relationship. The  Eugene-based non-profit organization has grown into a strong and fruitful partnership leading to the development of innovative, organic pest control methods. We honor their work.