Friday, August 26, 2011

Who says whoooooo?

A few minutes ago the doorbell rang. It was Lyson one of our gardeners. He had this to give to the boys.


In case you can't tell that is a very pissed off baby owl. If you get too close he hisses, growls, and clacks his beak. He hasn't said whooo even once.

I quizzed Lyson to make sure he hadn't raided a nest. He hadn't, Mr. Crow had though. We have a mated pair of pied crows living in a tall tree in our yard. I rather like them, they are great fun to watch and handsome birds to boot. I never realized until we moved here that crows were hunters. I just thought they raided farmers crops. The roof of our house is littered with small bones from their prey. Every once in awhile they will drop something before they get a chance to eat. That's what happened to this little owlet. Somehow the crow ended up dropping him instead of eating him. Closer although very cautious inspection reveals that he probably has a broken leg and who knows what other injuries. We will take him to the wildlife center when David gets home and turn him over to the experts give him a chance of survival.

9 comments:

Connie said...

I love those crows too, but their markings and tough attitude always makes me think of rowdy gangs of hoodlums. All they need are tattoos and motorcycles. Your pissed off baby owl is very cute and fuzzy. I hope he is ok and the wildlife center can help!

Doug Ferguson said...

It's risky leaving an African house alone, even with the staff. Thank goodness your gardener was on the ball. After our vacation from Zambia two summers ago we came back to all kinds of catastrophe. The water had failed so the garden had died and the pool was a wreck. Also, there was a fresh grave in the rose garden. One of our cats had gone over the wall and met the neighbors' dog! It's never dull, eh?

Monica said...

oh. my. googly eyes that thing is CUTE. wait till i show the kids...

Nomads By Nature said...

That is some seriously fluffy cuteness! How fortunate to land on your roof. Must have known you are the next best thing to a nature reserve - hope he survives and thrives at rehab. Never a dull moment there, huh?!

So sorry to have missed you this summer in TX. Would have loved to meet you in real life and hear some of your stories in person.

Shannon said...

Sorry to have missed you too! Maybe we still get a chance to meet up. Moz is only next door and one lousy day at Corpus this summer wasn't enough to satisfy my beach cravings. If we get out that way I'll let you know.

Daniela Swider said...

Poor little owl! He/she does not look happy but is awfully cute. Hope he gets better soon...

Danny said...

I'm surprised the boys didn't ask to keep it.

Connie said...

btw - I showed your ticked off owlet to Honor, my 8yo friend of all critters, and she thought he was adorable! She also enjoyed the link to the wildlife center and reading about all of their animals. Thanks for sharing :)

Shannon said...

Danny, Oh you know they did. It was like the the Bugs Bunny cartoon:

"Ohhh he's so cute I want to love him, and keep him and hug him and pet him….."

Mom let them for look at him, not touch, for 30 seconds then shooed the boys out the door and that was it until we got to the wildlife center and handed him over. They are very hopeful he will make a full recovery and be released back to face the crows another day.