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Barrrymore the Barred Owl Released January 4, 2009
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We Are One Tammy Yuth President/Rehabilitator
Carol Ekker Vice President/Rehabilitator 360-264-4283
Patty Kaija –Treasurer Linda Anthony—Secretary Marlene Wenger—Board Member
Dr. Gregg Bennett Dr. Lina Wachsmuth Tumwater Veterinary Hospital 360-754-6008
Tess Starr—Web Page
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Animal-borne diseases in the news:
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Barrymore came to us in November 2008 having probably been hit by a car, he had a concussion and cut on his leg.
He was an odd combination of a very easy bird to care for and more work then many raptors with his injuries usually are.
He ate well when hand fed, and when we hid his antibiotics in a small piece of meat swallowed them without any fuss.
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Unlike most raptors we see, he did not learn to recognize meat left in his cage as food. Handed pieces of meat, or chicken wings he would happily eat, but a plate of cut up chicken or a second wing left in front of him would go untouched. This meant extra care had to be taken to make sure he was eating enough each day.
On the plus side his calm nature and hand feeding meant cleaning his cage could be done by simply coaxing him out of his cage and changing the cage while he was eating. |
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Barrymore recovered and was ready to go out into our flight cage just in time for the first winter storm of December 2008.
Western Washington was hit by more snow then it had seen in decades, and business, schools and public transportation came to a halt, leaving people stranded at Greyhound stations and the airport.
And leaving Barrymore stuck inside getting very board in his temporary dog crate home.
After two cold weeks, the weather broke and Barrymore went out to the flight cage.
And a few days later he was released with his new years resolution to not get into arguments with automobiles.
All that he left us with is this blurry picture of his flight away.. |
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We would like to leave you with this final thought. Barred Owls have gotten some bad press lately because biologists consider them to be an invasive species. And they suspect the Barred Owl of displacing some Spotted Owls from their nesting sites.
It’s extremely important to protect the nesting sites of the Spotted Owl and preserve appropriate habitats for that species.
However, the Barred Owl should not bare the blame for the decline of the Spotted Owl. The Barred Owl is native to this continent, it’s not a species that was brought here either intentionally or unintentionally by humans. It does belong here, it’s just expanding it’s range naturally, in part because humans have created an environment that is favorable to them here in the West. Nature will fill a void, and the Barred Owl is just doing that.
Our experience has taught us the Barred Owl is a calm bird that can tolerate human activity well, which makes it a good candidate to fill the void left by the Spotted Owl when human activity pushes it out or places it under undue stress
Rather then making this beautiful bird the villain of the story, more emphasis should be put on creating environments that do not put stress on the Spotted Owl. |