Fuzzy Silly

If you CLICK HERE you can see a few pictures of the baby great horned owlet that we have been raising. That time he was being coy, and had his back to the camera. This time I saw him in his tank with his stunning eyes facing front, and he was doing goofy baby owl things. I grabbed my camera and took a quick little video.




Isn't he funny? The sparse little fluff covering him is called down. It will be weeks (45 days in all) before he begins to grow real feathers. He's so wobbly -- unlike baby ducks and chicks, owlets can't get up and walk... they must wait for their mother to bring them food for the first 5 weeks. Those babies have to be pretty darn patient to wile the hours away unable to do much but sit and wait for meals. By 10 weeks they make their first hesitant forays out of the nest.

We feed him several rat pups (not live) a day, to duplicate how his mom might return to the nest with something she'd caught. At least this little one has no competition for meals with any brothers or sisters. I bet he's going to grow up to be so handsome and graceful... though you'd never know it with the way he looks and acts now