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, April 27, 2012

WSU veterinary hospital treats nine unusually young great horned owlets

Rarely seen by the public, baby great horned owls are being treated at Washington State University's Veterinary Teaching Hospital, and it's hard to believe that the nine palm-sized puffballs with curious yellow eyes will grow into fierce raptors of the woods.

  Four of the infant owls survived a fall to the ground near Colton after someone unknowingly cut down a tree where they were nesting.  The other five were brought to a veterinarian in after their nest was destroyed inside a chimney during a home remodel. With no nest to be returned to, babies on the ground are vulnerable. At this age, they would probably not survive if left on the ground. The parents will still try to protect them and feed them if they are on the ground, but keeping them warm is another story. It's important that the owls don't imprint on humans. Plans are to release the baby owls this summer. The more independent they are, the better.
 The owls must be fed three times a day, and if they survive will stand 2 feet tall with a 4-foot wingspan.