The Interloper – Still Waiting

I imagine this is what the rat's last moment will look like:

Here ratty, ratty, ratty….




Note that this is a Eurasian Eagle Owl, not a Great Horned like me. 

Glue-Trapped Owl Update

I have big news! The Eastern Screech Owl I mentioned the other day, the one who was stuck to a glue trap in someone's yard: he has been released!! After passing mouse-school like a pro and waiting for a storm to pass, he took to the air, never to see this place again.

To the lucky Owl: may you remain glue-trap free for the rest of your days!

The Interloper – A Limerick

A rat who thinks he’ll steal                                  

The leftovers of my meal

Will have quite a fright

The night I take flight

And kill him with great zeal

How I Came to the RMRP - Part III - Rehab

Three days after I was admitted to the RMRP's Critical Care Unit, I was finally able to stand on my own two feet again. I was a shaky, poorly-balanced version of my old self, but I was steadily improving under the care of the Humans at the RMRP. Of course, that's not how I viewed it at the time! I had no idea what was going on, only that I was in a small metal cage, that people kept catching me and sticking me with needles, and that I was very, very far from anything familiar. Now that I have a better idea of what was going on then, I can understand that I was kept in a small, quiet cage so I wouldn't bash around and injure myself further, and that I was caught once a day for medications that were essential to my healing (and so Humans could clean up after my stinky Owl messes).

But just because the Humans were doing all that to me for my own good didn't mean I had to take it nicely. I was too weak to fight back at first, and the world seemed to lurch whenever I moved to fast. But the first day I felt well enough to grab at the gloved hands that reached in to capture me, I did so quickly and strongly, and the Human on the receiving end gasped in surprise (although he followed the gasp with, "Ooh, good, she tried to talon me!"). That was the same day that the world stopped lurching enough for me to grab and eat the food they held in front of my beak, and I wolfed down my meal to the sounds of compliments from the the Humans. Soon after, I was able to focus on and eat food the Humans left in my cage, and they no longer had to catch me to get me to eat--what a relief that was!

But that's as far as the good news went. After a week in the CCU, and daily tests where the Humans tried to get me to look at things off to my right side, I finally figured out why I was still having such a hard time focusing on things: I was blind in my right eye. It wasn't that they were trying to surprise me when they slowly brought a finger or pen out from behind my right side until it was in front of my face...it was that they were trying to figure out where my vision kicked in over there. And the answer was: never.

I don't know if I can convey to you how horrible it was to understand that I would never again see out of my right eye. There's a reason Owls' eyes are so big: they're very, very important to how we survive. For a Human, losing vision in one eye means inconvenience. For an Owl or another wild Raptor, it means death. Without two functional eyes, Owls don't have binocular vision, and without binocular vision, how can an Owl hone in on is prey and successfully swoop down and catch it? (Actually, because of the size and importance of Owl ears [they're enormous], and the way the whole eye-ear-neck system works, some Owls can still hunt with impaired vision in one eye, but that will be a lesson for another day). But my ability to hunt like that would depend on the severity of my head trauma  and its effects on my balance and depth perception. And the only way to test that was by putting me in a larger cage and taking it from there.

Nearly two weeks after being admitted to the CCU, I was moved to a larger cage outside. It felt wonderful to be exposed to the chilly night air again, to be able to see the moonlight on the cottonwoods, and hear the snowflakes falling through the air. But it was a difficult transition. I would look at a perch, aim at it, fly, but somehow miss and end up on the ground. Fortunately, the Humans had thought ahead and provided me with enough low stumps to enable me to hop and jump my way up to a perch that I missed the first time. But it was incredibly frustrating to be unable to do something so simple and natural to a bird like me.

Had I mastered the perch-landing part of the process, the Humans would have then put me in a larger cage for more flight practice, then put live rats in my cage to test my ability to catch small, darting creatures at night with vision impairment. But, sadly, I had failed the baby-steps. I didn't understand it then, but it was time for the Humans and I to make a decision: could I become an educational ambassador?

Check back soon to see how that decision was made...

Auction update - insider scoop

The RMRP's annual auction is just around the corner on Saturday February 25th. How do I, an Owl with no calendar, know this? Because, like every year, the Humans are getting all stressy and anxious, working long hours and talking nonstop about "auction-this" and "auction-that". I even hear them working inside the building at night when the offices are usually empty and quiet! No complaints from me, though--I'm just excited! Like I said before, it's my favorite night of the year: a chance to hobnob with all my favorite Raptors and Humans, surrounded by beautiful art and exciting action.

Speaking of art and action, it just so happens that an inside source tipped me off about some of the items up for auction, and I'm sure there will be some duels being fought over the high-quality goods:

• A slew of beautiful photos, paintings and sculptures
• Astounding jewelry: beads, gold, jewels, etc--some of this stuff is seriously nice!
• Books on all sorts of subjects, from kids to adults to raptors to cats to cooking
• Handmade quilts of stunning detail and quality
• Gift certificates for restaurants and spa treatments
• A ski trip!
• A raft trip!
• Delicious liquors and food baskets

And so, so, so much more! (By the way, I was supplied with adjectives to describe the items--I don't find cheese or mezcal tasty).  

At any rate, tickets are still on sale, and I can't wait to see you there!

Glue Trapped Owl (re-post)

I often overhear Humans talking about rodent “problems”. It took me awhile to figure out what they were talking about (the only rodent “problem” I ever have is trying to eat one too fast and having to start over after nearly choking). It ends up that the Humans consider mice and rats in their homes to be a problem, not breakfast. They’ve come up with all sorts of ways to solve this problem, most of which involve killing the critters. Now, I’m a big fan of killing rodents, but I tend to go for a swift kill (and therefore a quick lunch that can’t hurt me back), whereas some of the methods Humans use are drawn out, painful, or harmful to creatures other than just the rat or mouse they’re trying to get rid of. One such method is the glue trap.

A glue trap is essentially a piece of plastic or cardboard with an extremely sticky adhesive on one side. The idea is that a mouse will walk across it, get stuck in the glue…and slowly die from starvation, dehydration, or suffocation. Nice, huh? There are dozens of other downsides to glue traps (just check out this Google image search for “glue traps”), but the one downside I want to bring to your attention today is how indiscriminate glue traps are: they will capture anything that touches them, not just rodents, Think: snakes, baby bunnies, kittens, songbirds, etc.

Now, can you think of a type of animal that would love a free rodent snack served on a platter? Say, an opportunistic hunter of mice and rats? Bingo, Raptors. Raptors are frequently the accidental victims of glue traps after they swoop down to pluck a stuck mouse from the trap; small Raptors can get stuck in the trap just like the mouse, and larger Raptors can fly off with a trap stuck to their feet or feathers, unable to get away from it.

In fact, just last week, the RMRP admitted an Eastern Screech Owl stuck to a glue trap. The Owl was found outside with the glue trap stuck to its feet and legs, unable to fly or free itself. Fortunately, someone saw the Owl and called the RMRP so it could be rescued. They were able to free the Screech Owl from the trap, and after a few days of observation, the bird is reported to be in good enough condition to be released ASAP. What a lucky Owl! For many other birds, their feathers get horribly stuck to the trap, and it’s nearly impossible to free them without damage, which leads to much longer rehabilitation time.

On a final note, I want to point out the irony of possibly catching and even killing an Owl in a trap intended to kill rodents. Owls are much better mousers than the most sophisticated mouse trap! If you’re trying to get rid of rodents on your property, maybe try setting up a nest box and luring in a family of Owls. It’s been reported that a family of five Owls will consume up to 3,000 rodents in a breeding season! I’d like to see your glue trap do that. Visit www.hungryowl.org for more information.  

Check back to find out when the glue-trapped Screech Owl gets released!

The Interloper – It’s a Rat!

A dirty rat! Saw it poke its head out of its hole tonight, looking around with beady little eyes for any leftover scraps I may have dropped. I held completely still, but a Human laughed in the distance, and the rat dashed away in fear.

I can’t believe it’s a rat! What luck! That’ll be a much more rewarding meal than a mouse.

The Interloper – Whiskers

You may have been wondering what’s been happening with The Interloper. There hasn’t been much activity from the little beast, probably because the nice warm weather meant it could scavenge food outdoors instead of in my cage.

But then it snowed.

And this evening, when I fully awoke from my daily nap, what did I find in my cage? Small traces of disturbed snow near the Interloper’s tunnel, almost like it stuck its craven little head out of its hole to sniff the air for…food? Signs of my presence? 

Something must have made it think twice, for there was nothing in the snow but whisker marks from its tentative sniffing.

I’ll continue to bide my time and wait for a full entrance. And then? The Interloper will swiftly become lunch. Muahaha.  

Raptors in the News - Denouncing Killing Eagles

A well-written little op-ed about people killing Eagles. Again, this is why we educate!

Groundhog Day?

Seriously? Groundhogs get their own holiday, but there's no Great Horned Owl day? When word gets out to the raptor community about this, that groundhog better start watching for bird-shaped shadows.