Well our resident barn owl family are itching to get out into the big wide world, unfortunately two of the three chicks tried to follow their sibling who flew to the ladder and back to the box, but they weren’t as strong and ended up on the floor of the barn. With our cat population we were a bit worried about what to do, the traditional thought was to leave them be, but I contacted the Barn Owl Centre and they actually informed me to return them to the box.
So I put on my big gloves and went back out to the shed. The first fella was a bit feisty, gripping my hand with his talons, and as soon as I put him on the platform outside the box, he hopped obediently back inside. The other one was not looking too good, and didn’t put up any resistance, and putting it back on the platform, it just sat there, and if he wasn’t standing you would have sworn he was dead. Putting in my second call to the experts, I was told not to worry, and that Barn owls were very good at ‘playing dead’! I was informed that I would probably have to do this a lot until they fully fledge, as they are like naughty school kids at the moment who just want to go out to play!
It was pretty amazing holding these fantastic creatures, who are no bigger than a small pigeon.
Interesting fact about Barn owls, apparently they can hear a mouse's heartbeat in a 30 Sqft room!
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