And so it begins

And so it begins. Spring. We’ve slid by these winter months with only a few injured birds – hawks, owls – some made it, some didn’t. But all along, we knew in the back of our minds that “baby season” is going to be here before we know it. Those times during the winter when people called, saying they found a baby owl – and us, knowing that it wasn’t a baby since it was the wrong time of year, that it was probably a Western screech owl, or pygmy or saw-whet owl. So when the call came in last Sunday that someone had found a baby owl, my immediate thought was “no, it’s probably not a baby, it’s probably a screech owl.” But then I stopped myself, knowing that, indeed, it very well could be a baby now. I asked the woman on the other end of the phone to describe it and, as she did, I knew that it was, indeed the first baby of the season.

I call Karen to see if she wants to go with me to get it. Of course she does! So we drive to the little town of Olivehurst just south of Marysville, about 40 miles from Grass Valley. The woman has left for work, but her son, who is the one who actually found the owlet, is there. He disappears into the back of the house and comes out with a crudely taped cardboard box, followed closely by two younger girls. I open the box, fully expecting to see a baby barn owl, and am surprised to see a baby great-horned owl, all grey fuzz and big yellow eyes, probably about 2 or 2-1/2 weeks old. He’s quite dehydrated, so we quickly head back to the clinic with him to check him over. We don’t find any injuries, bruising, or anything else wrong with him. We hydrate him and offer him 2 small mice, which he readily eats, as he sits on the table peering around the room, trying to take in his new surroundings.

We then take him over to Kim’s house, in the hopes that Kim’s educational great-horned owl, Sasha, might be interested in raising him. Kim keeps him in a small carrier inside Sasha’s mew (cage) for 2 days, and feeds and hydrates him regularly. Within two days, it’s decided to try to re-nest the little guy back where he came from, so Wednesday morning Kim, Eric, Mark and Kelly all drive down to Olivehurst to the abandoned lumber mill where the owlet was found.

When they go into the long-abandoned warehouse, they scare out two great-horned owls and a barn owl. The floor is littered with owl pellets (the regurgitated indigestible bones and fur of eaten animals) in one area below where a giant metal door is rolled up, so they concentrate their nest-finding efforts there. Eventually they find where the baby had fallen from, a remarkable 25-30 feet up, and proceed to get the ladder and rappelling rope (Mark is a tree guy, so has a lot of that kind of equipment) up there to check the area out. Great-horned owls aren’t big on building nests – they usually use an abandoned one or a hollow in a tree. In this case, they apparently just laid an egg on the top of the huge metal door, between the door and the ceiling. Eric has brought a “nest” – a plastic box with sides about 6-8 inches high so the baby can’t fall out again, and they put a little bit of straw on the bottom before putting the baby in it and depositing him on the top of the door. They have weighed him, and also leave 4-5 mice with the hope that the parents will feed him.









After two sleepless nights, Mark and Kelly go back Friday morning to check on him. They can see the parents outside in a tree, watching. Mark again climbs the ladder up to the nest and is greeted with much beak-clacking by the baby, which is a defensive thing owls do. Not only are all the mice gone that they had left, but there is part of a fresh pigeon kill in with the baby! And, not only that, but he’s gained weight! Mark practically falls off the ladder, he’s so thrilled. Assuring themselves that all is well, they leave him to be raised by his parents, who obviously can do a much better job than we can.

All of us are ecstatic that this is such a great success story, especially after the last few months where almost all of the birds that have been brought to us, haven’t made it. It was a much-needed boost in the arm (and heart) for all of us, to have this work out so absolutely perfectly.

I just wish they all had such a happy ending.