One of these....

Age: 13 days old
Mass: 88 grams

... isn't like the other.

When raising young animals, it's important to make sure they get enough mental stimulation. For hamsters, you put a wheel into the cage. For puppies, you give them a ball or chew toy. This dog toy seems a bit big for George, but he did give it a peck to see what it was all about. He didn't seem that impressed and went back to playing with a blade of grass.

George is starting to walk around, but he still tires easily and needs to work on his balance.


****SBOIC is licensed to keep and display all their educational animals. Only qualifed individuals with proper permits are allowed to keep native species. Taking an animal from its wild home is illegal. Keep our animals wild, and leave them in their homes.

Feeling Flighty

Age: 12 days old
Mass: 82 grams

I start every morning weighing each owl. This helps me figure out how much to feed them, which is important because overfeeding an owlet can be very damaging.

This morning, George did not want to stand on the scale and I had to "tub" him. As you can see, that didn't stop him from bouncing around.

I wonder what he'll be like when he figures out how to fly.

****SBOIC is licensed to keep and display all their educational animals. Only qualifed individuals with proper permits are allowed to keep native species. Taking an animal from its wild home is illegal. Keep our animals wild, and leave them in their homes.

Morning Owl

Age: 11 days old
Mass: 73 grams

I can totally relate. I often have the same look on my face before my morning coffee. Seriously, don't bug me.

George's fuzzy white down is starting to be replaced by feathers. Look at his wing, that buffy-coloured patch is a series of feathers that are starting to growing out. In the next few days, George will start to look very different.

****SBOIC is licensed to keep and display all their educational animals. Only qualifed individuals with proper permits are allowed to keep native species. Taking an animal from its wild home is illegal. Keep our animals wild, and leave them in their homes.

No way, uh uh

Realizing his mistake, Shorty quickly hopped off the body fat analyzer.


****SBOIC is licensed to keep and display all their educational animals. Only qualifed individuals with proper permits are allowed to keep native species. Taking an animal from its wild home is illegal. Keep our animals wild, and leave them in their homes.

That Awkward Stage

Age: 10 days old
Mass: 64 grams

Look, we all go through it. It's natural and no big deal.

It's just worse when your parents insist on taking photos to remember it.


****SBOIC is licensed to keep and display all their educational animals. Only qualifed individuals with proper permits are allowed to keep native species. Taking an animal from its wild home is illegal. Keep our animals wild, and leave them in their homes.

Unlikely Brothers

Age: Approx. 2-3 weeks
Mass: 351 grams

No, burrowing owls don't grow that fast. This is Shorty, a young short-eared owl that was recovered by a SK Conservation Officer. Shorty's nest was about to be seeded over, so Shorty and his five siblings were rescued and brought to SBOIC. After getting looked over by a vet, Shorty was released to me to become SBOIC's new ambassador short-eared owl.

Why a short-eared owl? Doesn't SBOIC just work on burrowing owls?

Of the 12 owl species found in Saskatchewan, short-eared owls are the species most commonly mistaken for burrowing owls. Their population is also declining and no one knows why.

We'll occasionally check in on Shorty's new job.


****SBOIC is licensed to keep and display all their educational animals. Only qualifed individuals with proper permits are allowed to keep native species. Taking an animal from its wild home is illegal. Keep our animals wild, and leave them in their homes.

With a side of mouse, please.

If I planned on posting this video, I would have put smarter looking books on the shelf.

In the wild, the male does most of the hunting while the female broods the young and does most of the feeding. Once the owlets are a bit bigger, the female will start to hunt close to the nest, mostly picking up insects like grasshoppers.

In unrelated news, George opened his eyes today!!

****SBOIC is licensed to keep and display all their educational animals. Only qualifed individuals with proper permits are allowed to keep native species. Taking an animal from its wild home is illegal. Keep our animals wild, and leave them in their homes.

SBOIC Communications Team

Age: 9 days old
Mass: 57 grams

George still needs help staying warm and I found that sometimes he just likes to lean into my hand. Many baby birds probably sit like this because they huddle with their siblings to share body heat. Me, I've learned to type with one hanfsdd.

****SBOIC is licensed to keep and display all their educational animals. Only qualifed individuals with proper permits are allowed to keep native species. Taking an animal from its wild home is illegal. Keep our animals wild, and leave them in their homes.

Smug Gains

Age: 8 days old
Mass: 48 grams

George looks pretty happy with himself. Since yesterday, he's gained 6 grams. That's like gaining 15% of your body weight overnight. At this age, George will continue to grow like a weed. I feed him 4 - 5 times a day, and he's always peeping for more.

What does George eat? Well, the natural diet of a burrowing owl is mostly rodents and insects, and at this age, the parents are feeding growing owlets a lot of meat to help them grow. I feed George chopped up pieces of mices (it's not as gross as it sounds).

****SBOIC is licensed to keep and display all their educational animals. Only qualifed individuals with proper permits are allowed to keep native species. Taking an animal from its wild home is illegal. Keep our animals wild, and leave them in their homes.

Zzzzz...

Zzzzz...... our first night together was pretty rough. George kept peeping for food and his nest mates, and he would only sleep if he was in my cupped hand, under my blanket. So, I stayed up and watched a movie with George in my warm hands.

At 1 am, I tried to sleep with him cupped in my hand, but could you sleep with an endangered owl the size of a potato chip in your hand? I couldn't.

At 4 am, I finally put him into the incubator and tucked him in for the night.


****SBOIC is licensed to keep and display all their educational animals. Only qualifed individuals with proper permits are allowed to keep native species. Taking an animal from its wild home is illegal. Keep our animals wild, and leave them in their homes.