08 June 2006

I love this job

Yesterday I received a call from a woman who said she had a "snowy white owl" which had fallen from his nest. We get calls all the time from people who think they have a hawk, an eagle, an owl or even a CONDOR -- it usually turns out that they have a pigeon or a grackle. Not this time!

This lady, we'll call her Joan, has three palm trees planted in a triangle which have created a massive "bird apartment building" because the shaggy parts have grown together and she doesn't let the trimmers cut above a certain level. It's really an excellent place for nests.

Joan has had Barn owls nesting in her palm trees for 25+ years. Every year, a baby or two falls from the nest. This is not unusual -- survival rates, on average, for wild bird babies is only 50%. Sometimes they survive the 40-foot drop, sometimes not. This little guy did!

I just had to share the picture of the baby Barn owl I rescued last night because he is just TOO CUTE! Okay, he has a face only a mother (and a wild bird rehabber) would love. Still, he's a baby, and who doesn't love baby animals (if you don't like animals, feel free to piss off).