From Boredom to Barn Owl Rescue

It was one of those days.

I think everyone woke up grouchy.

Kerry is stressed about work and money.

They boys were nitpicking at each other.

And me?  Hormones, I suppose.

I wanted to crawl back into bed and hide under the covers.

Kerry went out with a (potential) client to measure a building - a big pole barn - and told us he'd seen an owl, on the floor in the corner of the building.  From his description, I guessed it was probably a common barn owl.  When it was still there hours later he thought it must be hurt and called a raptor rehabilitation center for advice.

Oh, they had advice all right.  

Can you go back and get it, and bring it to us tomorrow?

Really?  Because hurt or not, that beak and those talons look pretty sharp and poky!  But hey, it sounded like a great educational (shhh! don't tell the boys!) adventure, so off we went, with our intrepid assistants.  Because that's what they needed - a mission!

Tate took charge of our improvised bird carrier.

Gunnar and I brought the raw chicken (as advised) and sturdy gloves.

And Wyatt was appointed photographer.

Nice self portrait.

The bird was still in the corner where Kerry had first seen it.

I don't think he is badly hurt, if at all.  Probably fell from the nest, which we could not find and would have been impossible for us to put him back into, at any rate.  He's starting to get his flight feathers, but I don't think is quite old enough to fly yet.  

Since the building was wide open to predators (coyotes, raccoons, cats, etc.) and the little owl had been on the floor for several hours we decided to go ahead and collect him.

He did not appreciate it.

And yes, we're thankful for thick, leather gloves!

There was quite a lot of clicking his beak, hissing very loudly,

and posturing with his wings to look big and scary,

but Kerry was able to gently get him in the box.

He hissed/screeched at us for several minutes, but when it

occurred to me to cover the top of the box

he quieted down nicely.

Here he is, dancing around a bit, to intimidate us.

He's settled for the night in a box in the mudroom, covered again, and quiet.