An adult Barred Owl recovers from injuries atWitter Wildlife Refuge. Photo by James Orr

It seems we always get animals in twos. I’ll go months without seeing a particular animal and then get two in two weeks.  Between all the rain we’ve had and the animals showing up in groups of two I wonder if maybe I  ought to start building an Ark?

I picked up an injured Barred Owl last Thursday.  Like the Owl  I got the week before it too had been tangled in a barbed wire fence and had an injured wing.

I have been trying to get it to eat the last few days but it is not cooperating.  Most owls can be force fed by carefully grasping their top beak and tilting their head back until they open their mouth.  The trick is not to loose a finger in the process.  This guy is fairly old and like many senior citizens has his own way of doing things.  His dinner plans do not include me cramming raw meat down his throat and he has snapped at me more than once. Since I need at least one finger to type my articles I decided to utilize chop sticks to maneuver the meat past his razor sharp beak.  I guess he does not like Chinese style dinning either as he “chopped” the chop stick in two during the first course.

The older owls often will not eat prepared meat.  They are use to catching live food, mostly mice.  Some are so particular they will not even eat white mice preferring the familiar gray and brown variety they recognize in the woods.

Believe it or not you can buy frozen mice but most are white.  Since I have yet to find a grocery store stocking this delicacy, I purchased a bag from Petco. I stopped next door at a Coffee shop and while waiting for my coffee to cool decided to open the bag to check the color.  The people at the table beside me go a little frantic when I set a bag labeled “Rodent Gourmet” beside my coffee and opened it up. I think they thought I was going to sample one with my Java.

Barred Owls are found through out most of North America. They hunt primarily at night but occasionally hunt in daylight hours.  Owls have a second eyelid that functions like sunglasses by shielding the eye from bright sun during daylight activities.

Their left and right ears are located at different heights allowing them to distinguish between sounds from above or below.  The can also “cup”  the feathers around their ears to increase their ability to hear very faint sounds.

If you want an entertaining Halloween guest the Barred Owl makes many sounds from barking, monkey-like yells and even blood curdling screams.  They have been called by many names as a result of their vocal skills. Hoot Owl, Eight Hooter, and Hooting Cat of the North are but a few of their other names.

Like most other owls, the Barred Owl has very soft flight feathers which allows them almost silent flight to sneak up on their prey. Soft feathers do not trap air as well as the more rigid feathers most other birds have. Although this provides a stealth feature these feathers will not allow Owls to soar and they require much more flapping to fly.

Male and Females have the same plumage.  The only natural enemy of the Barred Owl is the Great Horn Owl.  These owls can live up to 10 years in the wild  and 23 years in captivity.  Most Barred Owl deaths are human related (cars, shootings, fences, etc.)

Thanks to Feather, “the house wolf” tonight's main course for the Owl is brown field rat. Imagine my surprise exiting the Owl cage frustrated I could not get the owl to eat my offerings only to discover my favorite wolf sitting by the door with her own version of Gourmet Rodent at her feet ready to serve.  The wolves continually amaze me with their uncanny powers of intuition, but that’s another story.

DONATIONS NEEDED If you would like to help any donation amount  it is greatly appreciated.  Donations should be made out to Witter Wildlife Refuge and can be sent to P.O. Box 1118, Huntsville AR 72740.

See web page under "HOW YOU CAN HELP" for specific ways you can help us help wildlife