Browvard Community Charter School 3rd graders Go Stingray!!!!!

The following is a transcript of the live "Question & Answer" session we had with one of the schools this nesting season.  Enjoy!!

4.19.12 School session

Cecilia asks:  How big is the owl box and Is this the first time it is being used?  

The Barn Owl nest box  is 30" long, 18" high, 16" wide  and is located about 16 feet above ground level. This is the 2^nd year that Mel & Syd have used this nest.

Mannaica asks:  Does it keep the babies safe from predators, or can something still get in?  

 Being so high in the sky it keeps the owlets safe from animals living on the ground and also being enclosed they are safe from most predators.

Michelle asks:  Are the babies going to still live in the box after they grow up, or do they have to find another box? 

Mel & Syd will not allow them back to the nest after they lay the next clutch of eggs.  In some cases like we have seen here “Dinky” the youngest one from last years off spring keeps coming to visit but Mel & Syd don’t allow him to get to close or comfortable with the nest.

                                                                                                                           

Cecilia asks:  How can we tell the difference between Mel and Sydney?

First by size, the females in bird of prey species is always larger than the males.  Then we also look at their colors, Mel is much more whiter on his chest and face and Syd has more spots and has a rusty color.  We can also tell by behavior with owls since only the female incubates the eggs and cares for the young.

Zhane asks:  How many babies can they have? 

They lay eggs according to how plentiful the prey is in the area so if there are a lot of rodents then they will lay a lot of eggs, it can be from 4 -12 eggs but it depends a lot on the environment around them, nature seems to know what the right number is.

 Tamiyah asks:  How much does a month old owlet weigh and How much does an adult owl weigh? 

A month old owlet weights less then half a pound and in adult owls the males weigh about 15.oz and the female weights about 20 ounces so that is just a little over a pound.

Tyler asks:  How long is an adult Barn Owl’s wing compared to an Adult Bald Eagle’s wing?   

An owls wing span is approximately 40 plus inches which is about 3 feet, it depends on the size and sex of the owl.  A Bald Eagles wing span is 72-96 inches which is equivalent to 6-8 ft.

Mrs. Forshey comments & asks:  About two weeks ago, we saw an owlet with a mouse in its beak, shaking it up and down. It looked so funny like it was dancing! I had told the students that this was because the baby didn’t know how to use its talons to hold the food down and tear it. I have since learned that I was wrong about how owls eat.  Would you please give a much better answer than mine about how owls eat and what the owlet was trying to do by bouncing its head up and down?  What you saw was the owlet first having to learn to position the prey “head first” because that is the way it has to be in order to go down their throat with out the tail or feet creating a problem bending the wrong way.  The action the owlets make by bouncing their heads up and down is contracting the muscles in its jaw and throat pulling the food down into it’s digestive system.  If you have ever seen a snake eat it is pretty similar in the contraction movements made.

Carynna asks:  I saw a hole in their mouth. How can they live with that?   

What you are seeing is the breathing hole in their tongue, this is the air way they use when they are eating and moving food down their throat, with this air hole in their tongue they can swallow whole prey and not choke or pass out from lack of oxygen.

Tapanga asks:  What other things do they eat? Do they eat any human food?  Their diet consists of only meat so they eat rodents like rats, mice, gophers and rabbits, they can’t digest vegetables at all so they are strictly “carnivores” which means meat eaters.

 Raven asks:  We know that an eagle egg is about the size of a tennis ball and a humming bird egg is a small as a Tic Tac mint. How does an owl egg compare in size?  

 A Barn Owl egg is approximately the same size as a golf ball or a ping pong ball.

Carynna asks:  Why do they look so pink when they hatch?

When they hatch they have hardly any feathers at all they just have small “downy” feathers that will grow so you are actually seeing their pink skin.

Sean asks:  How much do the babies have to eat per day? What about for an adult?  The amount they need to eat is based on how old they are, very young owlets only need about half a mouse per day were the older ones are ok with just a couple rodents per day.  An adult owl can survive on just one gopher or rat per day.  A lot depends on how much energy they are expending, the more active they are the more food they need.

Evana asks:  Will Mel and Sydney stay together, like eagles do?

Yes, all most all birds will remain together their entire lives once they bond and become mates.  This bond is what makes them such great parents.

Anthony asks:  We can’t wait to see the owlets fly! When do you think they will fly for the first time?    

The young “fledge” when they are all most 2 months old, 52-56 days from the hatching date.

Willy asks:  Do they keep growing after the first year?  By the time they fledge from the nest they are about full grown and will not get any bigger but they will molt their feathers each year and by the second year their adult colors come in and you can tell if they are male or female.

Jia Wei asks:  How old will an owl be when it gets to be an adult and starts looking for a partner and have babies?  

 They will be considered adults at 2 years of age and by then have mastered the skills of hunting and surviving in the wild.  At this time they find their own territory if they are a male and will then make calls to attract a female to nest with.

Zhane asks:  Do owls hibernate? 

No, owls do not hibernate, they have to stay active and hunt all year because of their body size and they don’t accumulate a lot of fat to live off of like bears.

Jovan asks:  Are owls and eagles friends? 

No, they are in fact enemies but because Eagles are day time predators and owls are night time hunters they don’t come into much contact with each other.

Evana asks:  Do owls have ancestors?  

 Yes they do!  The earliest “Birds of Prey” were called “Velociraptors” which means "swift seizer”, this is where the word “Raptors” comes from which describes birds with large talons that hunt from the sky.  Do you remember seeing the movie “Jurasic Park” and the Velociaptors in it??  They kept them in a special facility because they were the most vicious and made the comment that they were really smart and "thinkers".

Sharice asks:  Where do the owls “poop”? 

 We have seen the “poop-shoots” from the eaglets, but not from the owlets.  The owlets poop just like the Eagles but since they are in an enclosed nest they do not move back wards to aim over the side but as they get older they do move back away from the main living area of the nest.

Mrs. Forshey asks:  Oh, so that’s why the bottom of their barn house looks pretty dirty. What else is in all that stuff?  Their nest is lined with the ‘pellets” that they cast up, “casting” is the term used to describe their regurgitating undigested fur and bones from their food.  This is pulled apart by the mother owl to make a nice soft bedding for them.

Zalayna asks:  Do they ever clean it out?   

The owls don’t purposely clean it out but as they get older the nesting material starts to pile up and does start getting kicked out of the nest. The young owlets also use the pellets to learn how to use their feet and toes to “talon” things and build up strength.

You also asked if owls come back to the same place to have babies or do they look for a newer (cleaner) place?  They come back to the same nest every time since it is their territory and home.  The entire nest is a mini ecosystem that is alive (yes complete with bugs) and is interdependent on each thing in there for survival.

Kayleen asks:  Sometimes the area around the owlets face seems to reflect light (glow). Is that sometime just seen because of the camera, or do these owls have special feathers that reflect light around the face?  

That is a really good observation and question, the effect you are seeing is the feathers as they reflect the light which is what causes the changing colors making it appear at times to glow.  Bird feathers are made up of many tiny interlocking "strands" that each have even smaller parts to them.  Due to their different structure, feathers can have an appearance similar to that of a glass prism breaking light into different colors - this is called refraction. Colors that are formed through refraction of light in this way are brighter and more metallic or even shiny looking than those that are coloured by pigments. All the tiny face feathers on the owlets can refract light in the same way so it looks like a shiny reflection.

Mrs. Forshey comments & asks:  In Florida, we have Burrowing Owls, one of the smallest owls. They look very different from the Barn Owls. How many different kinds of owls are there? Can you name a few and we will research them to see how they look.  This is a difficult question because species come and go, but because of DNA studies there is approx. over 150 species but scientists argue about this a lot.  If you look at a “Burrowing Owl’s” legs you can see how much more leg there is then in other owls and that is because they use them to dig in the ground to make their nests.  Here in Florida besides the Barn Owl we also have the Great Horn Owl, the Barred Owl and the littlest one of all the Eastern Screech Owl.  Also native to North America we have the tiniest of all called “Elf Owls” and the biggest of all the Great Grey owl.  There are all different kinds of owls and each one is designed to live in their specific habitat.

The whole class asks:  Is there anything else you think we should know about Mel and Sydney that we didn’t ask?  I think you have asked a lot of really good questions but here is some more info for you: 

Are owls color blind?

 No, they can see color, especially “red” the color of blood and meat, they are nocturnal and have a poorer color vision then their day time counter parts like hawks and eagles.

 

How does Syd communicate with the babies?

She made a low trilling sound to them while still in the egg, then to call them to eat, she also makes some chirping sounds to talk to them. They learned the sound of her voice while still in the egg and now after sun down when you watch them they get very excited way before we even see a parent coming in with food, this is because they have learned the voice of Mel also and can hear them calling as they come with food.

 How old can an owl live to be?

The oldest record for a Barn Owl is in Holland 17 yrs, 10 months, in the US was 11 yrs 6 months but because of all the dangers in the wild it isn’t normal to live that long so those were lucky owls.

 Do owls have eyelids?  

 Yes they do, in fact they have a 3 eye lids, 2 just like ours then one called a “Nictating Membrane” which is just like a reptiles clear transparent eye lid which comes down over the eye to protect it from injury when they are catching prey.

Do they have neck vertebrae?  

 Yes they do and this is what makes them so unique!  They have twice as many as we do, a total of 14 vertebrae which allows them to turn their neck around all most all the way, but they have to bring it back, they can’t  spin it around.

2012, A Really Rough Year for Barn Owlets

The events of this week have left us all with a heavy heart and soul. We gather together every day to peek into the private world of Mel & Syd and after the tremendous success of last year we have all been taken from the safe and secure adventure into the real world of what wild life is really about.

My first love is wild life and the world they live in but then my passion is education and sharing what I know with others so that they can better understand the "Circle of Life" and how "Mother Nature" works.

Early on I knew there was a problem just by seeing the number of rodents decrease from last years intakes [making reference to all the California Owl Boxes]. Noticing that there was a decline in rodents coming into the nest I knew there was going to be a problem after the owlets hatched in keeping them fed. Syd totally shocked me when she started leaving the nest while the owlets were at such an early age, this is not normal for a mother to do with such young babies and we all knew it. But I also knew that Syd knew they needed food, but what puzzled me is that no one saw her coming back in with food every time she left.

What happened Monday night was truly upsetting to me and I had only seen this before in nestlings that were starving. For baby owlets to behave in the manner they did after Mel dropped off that mouse was confirmation of my fears that they were not getting enough to eat. For what seemed like over an hour Maggie continued to try to eat that beat up mouse and in her attempts to get it down her movements were triggering all the owlets food reactions which lead to a serious slap down beat around food fight. This is were I feel that both Alice and Roo were injured in the trample for food. Their being so small compared to Maggie and Boomer left them handicapped to the bigger 2's fight over the rodent.

Last night really has me wondering what is going on with Syd. I have heard the "rumors" that are going around that this isn't Syd. That has to stop!!!! She was positively identified by dandi and yvonne - painstakingly going through photos and matching the "heart" shape markings on her wing which I agree with. Those spots on owls are just like our finger prints, that is their identity and no 2 owls would be marked the same. This IS Syd but Syds behavior isn't what we are use to. For her to take off last night and Mel to have delivered a mouse, rabbit and gopher and her not to come back and shred to feed is not normal at this age. Something is going on here that we don't know or have a clue what is happening so I can't enlighten you at all about this. All I can do is give you my professional opinion on what I do know and that is there is a problem here. There is more than we can see happening in the nests this year and that it may not be over yet. There has been loss in all most all the Barn Owl nests this year and in a couple the eggs haven't hatched yet so there will be more information and lessons to learn.

After a couple of successful years like we have seen of the Barn Owls raising so many clutches in the Southern California area I can only wonder how many are out there hunting the territory. Mel and Syd stayed in their territory year round, they never left, this has been confirmed to me by kanga telling me he could see and hear them calling each other just about every day. We also know that most likely "Dinky is still hanging around there by the UFO. I have watched this very closely and that is not an intruding owl, that is an off spring because there had been no direct attack upon it until after the owlets hatched. The UFO is way to comfortable with the nest, playground and area to be an intruder and the UFO has made no threat to the nest itself. Taking into consideration that they fledged 6 owlets last year plus themselves that is a total of 8 owls in that area. Count the numbers from Molly/McGee and the other nests that are around that area and that is a lot of owls for a residential area of the country.

Last year I was also studying Owliver/Owlivia when they kept coming back into the nest during the really hot summer days which made no sense to sit in an oven on a hot summer day panting. After chatting with the nest owner while this happened one day I asked him to go outside and tell me what he saw. When he came back he told me hawks were circling the area which then made perfect sense that they were scared and hiding in the nest. Most likely they were not O&O but off spring which still viewed the nest as safety and secure. Older experienced adults know how to hide in the tree and look like they are part of it. It is only by close observation that many things can be answered, but that makes it hard when your watching a camera on a screen thousand of miles away.

Kanga has given us such a treat with the cams on the playground that gives us a much better view into their little world and I am so great full for the opportunity to bird watch from the comfort of my home. But this is just a small window we get to look into that only shows a very small part of their life and what it takes to survive in the wild.

TALKING TO THE OTHER SIDE....

Spirits All Around Me! CLICK HERE TO SEE THE VIDEO OF MY SPIRIT ORBS AND SOULFUL THINGS!

Here we were in what was to be the happiest time of our life; the “Golden Years” is what our parents called it. We had accomplished so much in the trails of our life together, happily married, children out of the nest, bought our dream property, ready to build our dream home, hubby started his second career loving it, and I was near the university that I always dreamed of. Some Dream!!

Suddenly we had so much in life, it was truly amazing to be there at the top. I had just had a successful surgery to remove a parathyroid tumor that had pretty much robbed me out of years. Physical therapy was really paying off and I was feeling good. Yes “La dolce vita”.

After we first bought the property and were waiting for closing and moving to it we would go on the weekends bringing a picnic. We would sit in our pole barn and look out over the beautiful oak tree canopy and just be amazed that we bought a park! People pay good money to go out of town and park in the woods and enjoy nature and now we owned our own park. We are going to be spending the rest of our life on this property and I love it.

The evening before we signed the papers for the dream house to be built dear hubby and I sat outside looking at the site that had been chosen. We were sitting under the oaks envisioning building our first home together, this was going to be exciting. All of it we designed for the way we live including my handicapped needs and to easily change for when we get older. Tonight we will sleep and dream about our dreams being true and we watched the sun set.

Before I went to bed I let the dogs out it was around 11-11:30. While watching TV a strong gust of wind kicked up that actually shook the RV and I said to Dan “wow, that was unusual must be a storm coming”. At this same moment both of the dogs started barking furiously, in such a way that we thought someone was out there so going to check I saw the light was on in the pole barn shed. That wasn’t the direction the dogs were barking in, they were facing east, the same way the wind blew in from. This unnerved me a bit so I walked over there cautiously and seeing nothing there I switched off the light, closed the door and went back in to bed.
I awoke to my husband’s words, “there’s somebody here”, so shocked into waking up I looked up and out the window into the bright white light. OMG, what is going on…..I closed my eyes to the blinding light and heard a knock on the RV door. Going down to the door area I looked out the window and saw a man and asked what he wanted, he informed he was with the Sheriffs department. Looking at the clock it was 3:00 am so I went back and told him it was the Sheriffs department and looking out the window yes it was a sheriffs car. Of course my mind isn’t in gear and is seriously jolted into trying to make sense of what was happening.

As I stepped out of the RV I asked if there was a problem and he asked if I was “Timothy’s” mom and I said yes. He asked if Timothy’s father was here and I said yes and he told me to get him. Oh no, in my head was going off, “What did he get himself into” was the first thought in my head. Every parent worries about the phone call or knock on your door in the middle of the night. Tim was the 3rd and youngest of our children so we had all ready been through it with them.

I went inside and told him that the officer wanted to talk to us about Tim and we were both thinking the same thing, “What did he get into?” but that wasn’t the case. After stepping outside to face the Officer he again asked if we were Timothy’s parents and upon acknowledgment he said words that will never leave our mind: “I regret that I have to inform you but Timothy has passed away”.

WOW, what? He had to say it 2 more times before it sunk in, but surely there had been a mistake, no, his roommate found him and he has been identified. What happened we asked thinking that there had been some sort of accident, “We don’t know, they will do an autopsy” but we suspect drug overdose. Those words killed us inside!!! How could he do that to himself, how could he do that to his family and those who cared about him!!!??? How could this happen??? We were speechless, thoughtless, emotionless all I could do was fall back and I am so glad there were stairs there to catch me.

My mind was going hundreds of miles per hour wondering just what the heck happened. I knew he would do some things like drink, smoke but never “Hard” drugs! He was a corporate trainer for a major company and well loved by everyone, he had no problems, at least what we saw. Perhaps his roommates knew more so I was going to talk to them and see if they saw any thing at all. But worse of all we were mad at Tim for wasting his life and deeply hurt.

So our wonderful life had just got dropped kicked and things weren’t going to be right ever again for us. Tim is my husband’s only child so there is so much hurt there and a huge empty space since they were best friends. Getting through that time would have been impossible if it hadn’t been for hubbies Aunt coming down and helping us do what needed to be done.

The Sunday after the memorial service we put all the flowers out in the mediation garden so I could take pictures of them. When I came out with the camera he had most of them set out there and I just sat down looking still trying to grasp what all had just happened. Then I felt an urge to “take Pictures”. My mind said no wait till they all are here and they get arranged but then the inner voice said “No, Take them Now” so I did. I just sat and snapped pictures while hubby finished bringing them in placing them next to one another.

I didn’t see what was happening as I snapped the pictures, just directed Dan where to set them then arranging to create some order. This whole thing seemed so surreal to us, this wasn’t happening, it wasn’t real, we were going to wake up any moment and things would be back to normal. “Normal”, what an incredible word………

We spent the rest of the day with friends and family here, a bit hard since we were still living in the RV things were crowded, but we were all together as a family supporting each other in this time of horrible grief, disbelief and loss. We decided not to tell anyone those shocking last words the deputy said “We think it was a drug overdose”, we didn’t feel we should share that or darken his memory in any manner so we hid the pain silently as we went through the motion of the whole process of saying good bye to a child. That night I downloaded the pictures but couldn’t bring myself to look at them then, I had cried enough and just needed some sleep so I shut the lap top and forgot.

We were living in a state of shock and grief, reliving over and over in our mind the string of events that happened, what really happened? What could we of done differently? What was the signs we missed that he was doing drugs? What did we do wrong? There were so many questions and we were so full of hurt and anger of a senseless death that destroyed our family.

Right after the first of the year I saw a painting on the web done by a friend and thought it was beautiful and I wanted it for our new house. I made arrangements to purchase it but had to wait till it was finished in an art show so I kind of forgot about it in all of this tragedy. But it is important to note that here in this thought.

I don’t know how many days passed before I remembered to down load the pictures of Tim’s memorial service flowers. That isn’t something you rush in to do or look forward to but I had all ready posted pictures from the Memorial Service on his facebook page. For some odd reason I had created a facebook and myspace page for Tim in memory. He wasn’t a computer person, he was a very easy going Florida cracker boy.

The first couple of pictures were totally normal but the 3rd one I saw something unusual, then the next one was more and the next was more! I couldn’t believe my eyes, I thought there had to be a reason but the lens was clean and the other pictures following these were normal. Of course we were speechless as I showed my husband the “Orb’s” with the flowers. We just sat there and cried because we knew what this was. Also at that moment I thought about the night he died and how the sudden wind blew in from the east shaking the RV and the dogs were howling. OMG, he came by here when he passed to say good bye and left the light on in the shop.

The other revelation we had was that he wasn’t alone, there were 5,6,7 orb’s surrounding the flowers were my father, mother in law and other relatives all taking care of him. We felt a sense of peace of him not being all alone but still were very hurt over the loss and circumstances. Another thing to note here is that every time I touched something metal I would get shocked. It was just like everything was building static electricity in me and this made sense since daddy was an electrician, he was manipulating energy to let me know he is there and it’s all right.

From that point on I have been capturing “Orb’s” with the camera and as time passed I learned how to take the best pictures. I also recently noticed that they have shown up in the strangest places for me including over the internet a thousand miles away to let me know it is ok. My brother was in Sedona Arizona this spring and picked up a “communication crystal” for me and it is awesome! Sedona also has a special place in my heart and meaning for me since it was a Mecca journey there that I had my “Awakening” moment.

Almost 3 weeks after Tim’s sudden death a delivery truck came up the drive way with a package for me. I didn’t remember ordering anything but instantly knew what was there by the return address, my painting. I set the box aside because I wasn’t ready to open it, didn’t want to be alone when I see it and knew my brother in law was coming for dinner that evening.

I worked that day putting together the best of the “Orb’s” photos’ I took and used Tim’s song “Seminole Wind” as the tune. It turned out beautiful and later that night we opened the package and just sat staring at the painting. It was all ok, we had another sign that he was ok, he wasn’t suffering, he went quick and he was now a “Free Bird”.

Nearly 60 days after Tim’s death my husband called the coroner’s office to see if any conclusions had been made regarding the death. Now the last time he called on the day of his death the coroners “Assistant”, some “investigator” had told my husband they suspected drug overdose so that was painful and we had braced ourselves as to having to hear the worse.

This time it was different, they had a cause and it wasn’t drugs at all, it was a heart attack, he had a blockage and he just dropped dead without any warning. We had an answer, we had the reason we had the cause but we didn’t have an apology for the hell we went through thinking our son died of a drug over dose. We lived with that pain for nearly 2 months and in the end it was a really bad assumption made by the police, sheriff and coroner’s office. How could they do this to us, how could they do this to this family, how could they cause us so much grief, pain and not once did anyone say “sorry” we made a mistake except for the Detective at the police department. But in the end, Tim’s good name stayed good and there was such a great relief when I made the phone call to tell his roommates that it wasn’t drugs at all. They were beating themselves up to wondering how they didn’t see it so the relief in their voices was joyous and we all said that this was just one of those really sad happenings in life that no one could of prevented, it happens.

So the moral of this story is to make sure you tell the people you love in your life you love them every chance you get because you never know when that time is going to be the last time. The last words our son heard from me was “I love you” and he knew it, which gave me peace. For now I will continue to take pictures of the “orbs” and other strange phenomena’s as they happen. I also watch the sunset every day never knowing if it is my last one and I watch it with my father, mother, brother and son.

The moral of my story, live each day as if it is your last, all ways tell the ones you love because you never know if it is going to be the last opportunity you have to say it, and say it often because it is important for those you love to know you love them.

Peace and blessings!

THE URBAN OWLboy

Here it is almost August and to my amazement we are still watching the Barn Owl nest boxes. So far only 1 has reclutched, but the other nests the parents are showing interest. I have to admit this has me a bit perplexed because it isn’t “normal” for these birds to be reclutching so soon, the only time I know or have experience with is if they lost the first group of hatchlings or there are a LOT of rodents around and nature wants to get back in balance. I don’t know because I don’t have all the specifics, just my observations done via web cam and internet connection over a thousand miles away.

In doing some reflecting, (of which I have been doing a lot lately) I am reminded that I began to see a change in the wildlife in the mid 1990’s. There had all ways been a definitive line in the “season” of wildlife coming in. If I started keeping track of wildlife coming in with the year, in January it was the “Migratory” season, when we would get in a lot of migratory birds that were sick from feeding in dirty contaminated places on their way south. Sometimes it was young that were just plain tired and needed to be housed and feed to regain strength to continue.

A quick story here….one year when I got a lot of calls about a Red Tailed hawk that was sitting on the side of I-4 injured. Well that usually indicates a vehicle accident so going out there I found a juvenile Red Tail Hawk that was not injured in any way that I could find so after a couple days of observation they were released back into the wild. To make this story short and to the point because I do have a tendency to ramble, this young hawk had learned that I-4 was easy hunting for road kill and would eat so much they were to heavy to get off the ground. So for years this happened and whenever we got a call during migration from someone regarding a injured hawk sitting on the guard rails of a busy highway, we would assure the people from experience that this was “Highway Harry” and that he ate too much and just needed to digest the meal and would be fine. It took awhile to figure this out because he had been to 3 other rehabbers and no one knew the other had dealt with him until we were at a conference together talking. Talk about an “Aha Moment” between a group of people.

Following that was the spring “baby” season which started in March. The harsh tropical storms would blow nests out of trees and this was the Bird of Prey hatching time and tree squirrels. By May song birds and mammals would roll in and go full speed until August when we again would get a break. The only thing coming in then would be young that were the “second” clutch and in September the second group of squirrels, raccoons, opossums. It seemed that the larger mammals like deer didn’t reproduce so readily if a young was lost like the birds or smaller mammals. We only got to breath for about 2 months before the “Migration” casualties would start to arrive.

So that is the cycle of life from a wildlife rehabilitators reference for over 30 years, this is what I experienced until the mid 1990’s when I noticed that this changed quite a lot. There were babies arriving earlier than normal or expected and I don’t think anyone really paid to much attention to it or is even doing so now. If so I haven’t seen anything but I think it is important that there is something done to look and see if this is in fact an actual occurrence or something that I may of misinterpreted.

Ok, so back to my original thought and the “Aha” Moment I had the other night in “Buddy & Fluffy’s” nest box. While staring at it envisioning all that needed to be done to make it a more “perfect” nest box I was thinking that how unusual it was to see something like this in a back yard of a suburban neighborhood. How this was something that you don’t normally see when all of a sudden it dawned on me…… I was witnessing the “Urbanization” of the Barn Owl from agriculture to suburbia, this was the beginning of a transition of a species to adapt right into the back yards of homes, not just farms. WOW, what an “Aha Moment”!!!!!

Because of humans encroachment on the wild spaces of our planet many species of animals had to learn to adapt to the humans environment or they would die out into extinction. Mother Nature is a really wonderful complex working web of life, so many organisms so interdependent upon each other for survival. When a strand is broke in this web where ever possible Nature tries to balance. When there is a conflict there is a resolution, for every action there is a equal reaction, rules of the universe.

I first noticed the “acclimation” of wildlife in the 1970’s with the Ospreys making nests in the light poles of baseball fields, parks and power lines, now they are nesting in Cell Phone towers. Other acclimations are being made by other species where they can find the right place. Interesting enough though, our national symbol the Bald Eagle, who would NOT nest anywhere near humans is slowly becoming acclimated to humans and a bit more tolerant to nesting a little closer but still not as bold as the Osprey.

So with these Barn Owl nest boxes now going up in urban backyards, parks and other places not directly involved in agricultural business, there is a new partnership developing between them and humans in the Urban environment. Since this is a successful happening it is very obvious that these Owls are very necessary to our own survival. Without them the rodent population would grow in such large numbers that there would eventually be a plague of some sort that would spread much like the early times that killed millions of people. We as humans need to treasure the wildlife, without them we would die, without us they would survive and thrive, that says a lot about us being “expendable” from this planet.

© 2010

Another “AHA” Moment with the Barn Owls

At this point in time I have to ask myself what have I gotten myself into and is this the path I want to be on. For the first time that I can remember the general public at large was becoming involved and fascinated with wildlife, most popular was the Barn Owls. My first impression of this whole experience coming from my perspective as a Wildlife/Conservation/Research/Tree Hugger place was “What a Wonderful educational opportunity”.

I loved watching the owls in this intimate manner but also loved the people who were the hosts and the ones watching. I loved providing answers to the many questions asked, after all being an educator and answering such questions for years it was a part of me to just whip out the answer and when I didn’t have one I went out and found it. What a fascinating journey and along the way I met a whole lot of wonderful people.

Somewhere something went horribly wrong though, instead of it being a happy ever after adventure to be shared by all there were divisions, fights, jealousy, ego’s, all the elements that make us human was very evident in watching the chat rooms and Social Streams. At times I have to say it was like my own personal “Soap Operas” full of entertainment. Every day the drama unfolded, allies formed, lines drawn, circles closed, and almost downright cult behavior evolved. I watched as people began to get comfortable with each other and with the developing friendships they began sharing the intimate details of their lives. How interesting that people are willing to put so much out into public forum, I kept wondering are they doing this on purpose or is it just human nature to share and care.

I am the first to admit that I am really not a “people” person, most people who deal with wildlife and animals, especially the rescue end aren’t people persons, we tend to identify more with the animals and most of the times prefer the company of animals to people. I know it is weird but to understand animals in our position you have to have a different perspective. But here I was seeing people interact with one another one day then the next day be feuding enemies busy making allies to forge their fort of protection and alliances. How tragic that something so wonderful had been brought down by human nature. But at the same time something good was coming out of it also.

In my world I was not aware of a new trend called “Barn Owls for Rodent Control”. This was something that had been evolving in the late 1990’s by agricultural research in their search for safe rodent control in food crops without chemicals. I have to say that this is a wonderful idea and am greatly impressed by how many agricultural business’ have utilized and taken advantage of Mother Nature’s natural means of checks and balances. Most assuredly this benefited not only the farms but it also benefited the Barn Owls and there can be nothing but good coming out of this partnership. That is until I had an “Aha” moment one day while viewing the “Google Earth” surroundings of some owl nest boxes set in suburban neighborhoods.

I will be very honest and say that I was absolutely shocked, speechless and stunned by what I saw. These were subdivisions that had been cleared of trees and then developed with tract homes. I had just fled an area where I had lived for almost 30 years, a beautiful tropical area flush with green and wildlife. Over the last 2 decades I watched in horror as the wildlife and wild places that I held dear and protected were just trashed. Bull dozed down, flattened, filled, shaped, molded, paved and development replaced the wild green places, spaces and trees. I am grateful that this city had a mayor at the time who realized how important the tree canopy was and implemented a campaign to protect the ones the city had and to replace many that were lost.

I had an “Aha Moment” in the late 1990’s when driving out of the city towards home I noticed that there was a remarkable difference in temperature as I drove out of town towards the treed country. Noticing this notable change I did a study myself that showed once I left the areas of heavy roads, strip malls, business and entered the rural area there was at least a 10 degree difference in temperature. I did a half hearted campaign and attempted to talk to some developers about the methods they used in creating their subdivisions and tried to reason with them to save the old trees, most times my voice fell on deaf ears. Frustrated I gave up because it all ways came to the bottom line of “cost effectiveness” and profit, it was very disappointing and saddened me to realize that it was useless to continue.

Some thing I learned sadly over time is that when it comes to the all mighty dollar, humans can become a greedy nasty vicious conniving back stabbing animal unlike anything in the wild animal kingdom. I learned the hard way with my first nonprofit corporation when I took a apprentice of mine and made her a partner to help build the business. She was to do the rehabilitation; I was going to go forth and educate to make a difference in the world. I had learned that the only way to support the work we did rehabilitating and educating was to become a “business” so we could solicit and take donations.

During this period of developing and growing the corporation my husband, a PhD Research Scientist in Human Factors and a whole lot of other stuff I don’t understand had the opportunity to do some research at the Little Rock Air Base in Arkansas. Thinking what a wonderful opportunity this was for him to further his career and seeing that I could do a lot of good and expand our wildlife rehab and education business via “chapters” I set out on this adventure with a positive attitude and much vigor. What transpired in Arkansas is another story I will save but what happened when I returned 8 months later was that my partner in whom I trusted my corporation no longer saw me as a “Partner” but as a threat, especially when money was involved. To make a looong story short I had that corporation stolen from me in an illegal board meeting that ended up being a coup in her favor. That was fine with me, I didn’t fight it because I didn’t like the direction she had chosen or the rumors I was hearing regarding the way she was handling rehabilitation, volunteers, donations and knew it was for the best that I separate myself.

I created another corporation, set another board in place and filed my 501c3 paper work and began my new life filled with educational goals. Now anyone in the animal business knows it can be a cut throat thing when it comes to money. We have to rely on donations to feed, shelter, provide veterinary care, and all the other expenses that pertain to keeping permanently injured wildlife for education. I was soon presented with an opportunity to manage a wildlife theme park and thought how wonderful it would be to have a great home base to bring in schools, have a place to house my animals and not worry about the expenses so I took the job and my corporation and this park partnered in education.

All went well until the person I was working for who held the contract with this park to provide the shows decided he wanted to sell. Well I saw this as an opportunity to grow so I had been talking with a couple of men who I had met that were affiliated in some way with Universal Studios and the film industry. Now these 2 men had come to my aid during a very difficult time and struggle so I had no way to know they really could not be trusted and in fact were con artists. But being the trusting person I am we partnered up and bought out the show contract and from that moment on my life was hell. To make a long story real short I left, but not before having a “Aha Moment”. First, learning that when money became involved people become vicious control freak fear mongers and second was that the animals was really nothing more than a “commodity” and business.

What a lesson I learned from those experiences but perhaps the most valuable one I learned was that I didn’t need any one but myself to be successful. For so long I thought I needed others to be with me to achieve my goals and that is not the case. With all my knowledge and experience I am a whole person that has a lot to offer others and at times others don’t see it that way. Instead of seeing me as someone who cares passionately for my causes I am viewed as a threat as my former partner did. That is really sad and a huge loss not just to the people that I attempted to help but to the wildlife that would of benefited to the help I wanted to provide.

Another thing I have all ways known to be true is that when one door closes God will open another bigger one. I have closed the door behind me with the Barn owls knowing that there are people there that will take care of it and continue on to do what is best for them. At this time I am not sure which door to go through. I have not mentioned it before but I will now, I am also an Ordained Minister and my message has been “Environmental Spirituality”. This is something that I developed over the years regarding human’s responsibility to the world God created and to the beautiful creatures of creation. I felt so strong about the message of “Environmental Spirituality” that I decided how wonderful it would be to go to churches and bring the message of how we are all part of the web of life.

I am also a “Chaplain” a member of the National Chaplain Corp and specialize in natural and environmental disasters. Right now with what is going on in the Gulf of Mexico perhaps that is the direction that God wants me to go since I feel a great pull that way. I will just wait and listen for the inner spirit to guide me on what is to be I’m sure another wonderful learning life adventure.

Meanwhile, Peace and Blessings
© 2010