I'm gonna be late for work...

[BookstoreEscapee]

...there's an owl on my bike.

[MaggieTheCat]

Husband and I needed our daily dose of adorableness. XD

[AccountingDrone]

Got to admit, it is a pretty secure place to hang out - difficult and very defensible spot.

Adorable little cuss too =)

[DGoddessChardonnay]

That was cute as can be.

Now I'm wondering if that Bard Owl we took care of years ago is still alive . . .

[XCashier]

Nice bike ornament! Seriously, he's adorable.

Now I'm wondering if that Bard Owl we took care of years ago is still alive . . .

Maybe he found a kitty friend?

[Treasure]

That was cute as can be.

Now I'm wondering if that Bard Owl we took care of years ago is still alive . . .

so i'm curious - what was his charisma score?

[BookstoreEscapee]

That was cute as can be.

Now I'm wondering if that Bard Owl we took care of years ago is still alive . . .

Did you name him William?

[DGoddessChardonnay]

so i'm curious - what was his charisma score?

Did you name him William?

No, we had no name for her that I can recall (it was a female) . . . she was with us for a few months while he was recuperating back in the early 90's from an accident that damaged one of her talons. Mom was working with the local wildlife rehab group at the time and had just gotten certification to work with raptors (she already had her license for small mammals.) One of the others in the group had found this owl, but the other person who usually takes in birds (she has a pet shop across town) had no room at the time, so that's how we ended up with this bird.

She looked a bit like this one

Once a week, Mom would make the trip to the vet's office for a supply of dead mice (they were frozen) and we kept them in a small fridge we had out in our large building (which is also where we had the Owl in a cage.)

Feeding her was a challenge. I had to wear long, thick suede work gloves just to open the door to the cage long enough to toss in the rat, change the water out and close it back.

Changing the paper wasn't too bad . . . luckily we had a cage where the bottom slid out, so I didn't have to open the door to do that part.

But after a few months of her confinement, with a few trips to the vet to check her progress and Mom working with her talon, she finally became well enough to release.

So, while I was at work one day, Mom and a friend took the cage, loaded it up on the back of Elrod (Mom's El Camino that she had for years until last summer) and drove out to the woods and turned her loose.

That was the last we heard of her. Mom said later she didn't look back or anything . . . just flew off into a group of nearby trees and that was it.

I'd tell you about the pair of baby skunks we had, but I'll save that for another post.