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

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Two bold mice

Two brave mice are creating a stir on the internet after setting up home in an owls' nest.

The wood mice moved into the Barn Owl Tower, which was specially constructed for the nocturnal birds at the Lost Gardens of Heligan in Cornwall UK.
And their antics are being captured thanks to a "Mouse Cam" set up to watch them on the website, http://www.heliganwild.com./webcams
Daily hits on the website have doubled since the introduction of the cameras, fuelled perhaps by people wanting to see the mice meet a grisly end.
The gardens' managing director, Peter Stafford, said: "For the autumn our team have moved the cameras underground to show life for a mouse.
"It's perhaps not the wisest place for the creatures to make their home but it makes for fascinating viewing."

Fortunately for the mice - a major food source for the birds of prey - there are currently no barn owls in residence, though earlier this year the webcam followed the latest brood courting and raising their young.
At the moment the mice appear to be nest building and have temporarily obscured the camera view with material. They hope this will change over the coming nights to reveal a better view of their new residents.

             Their Barn Owl story at Heligan