LOCATION OF RESCUE: Orange County, Virginia
CAUSE OF ADMISSION: Silo Collision
ADMISSION DATE: June 5, 2012
PROGNOSIS: Good
September 3 update
The rehabilitation staff report that Barn Owl #12-1152 has not been passing mouse school this weekend. The rehab staff will be checking the owl’s mouse tub today, but if the owl did not pass again last night, it will be fed dead prey again so that it does not lose too much weight.
September 7 update
September 12 update
The vet staff caught up Barn Owl #12-1152 on September 10 for a foot and feather check and routine blood work. When they weighed the bird, they found that the Barn Owl’s weight had significantly decreased — indicating that the owl was not regularly passing mouse school, despite the missing mice in the tub. Rehabilitator Kelli stopped live prey training and fed the owl a regular meal of dead mice that evening.
Since several rounds of live prey testing have not resulted in much success for the owl, the rehabilitation staff will move the Barn Owl to A3 — the Center’s largest flight pen. This will allow the owl to undergo live prey testing in a much larger space — and a slightly more natural one. The mice will be in an escape-proof area in the Center of the enclosure, and the owl will not need to hunt the mice in an enclosed tub. The owl was be moved on Wednesday, September 12.
Read the full story on the owl HERE