Sleeping On The Job

Can you find George? I guess sleeping in the gift store is one way to camouflage himself...

Age: 2 months old
Note: his adult feathers are starting to really grow in. He has "suspenders" coming down his chest!

Memories of summer

Looking through the summer's photos will keep me warm through these tough Canadian winters. Right? RIGHT?

SBOIC was fortunate enough to partner with SaskPower to deliver "Wise Owlets Ecology Camps" for Moose Jaw youth. Kids learned about prairie ecology and conservation, and of course, got to meet some of the critters living at SBOIC.

One of the most popular camp activities was catching grasshoppers in the native prairie beside our Centre. Much to the delight of our owls, some of these grasshoppers would find their way into their enclosures and become a light snack.

Hmmm, what else can I wreck?

In addition to wrecking several houseplants, Shorty once shredded an entire box of tissue paper.

She sat on top of the tissue box, gripped the box in her sharp talons, and methodically pulled out each sheet with her beak. She transferred the tissue from her beak to a foot, and then proceeded to rip the sheet into a thousand little pieces. Once finished, she would pull another sheet out of the box and keep ripping until the box was completely empty.

Imagine my surprise when I woke up and found my bedroom looking like a snowstorm!

As I cleaned up the mess (and what a mess it was!), I wondered if this was nesting behaviour... If so, Shorty had a long way to perfection...

Not interested....

Wait, this tennis ball has eyes.

You want me to throw THAT?

In the wild, growing burrowing owl chicks spend a lot of time outside the nest burrow. They pounce on grasshoppers, play with sticks, and scrabble for food with their siblings. Their antics are fun to watch, but these owlets are actually learning important life skills like flying and hunting.

Sibling Rivalry

Can you find the owl?

If you have brothers or sisters, you’ll understand. My dog's life was turned upside town when she was introduced to two owls. She had to start sharing her things. Even her beds.

Shorty soon learned that the bedroom was the quietest and darkest place to nap during the day.

Short-eared owls often roost (sleep) in tufts of grass in the wild. The grass serves as great camouflage and probably a good break from the wind too. I never considered comfort to be important to wild animals, but I suppose a dog bed is like a bed of soft grass.

Even George thought the dog beds were great.

Well, where did that leave my dog?

I looked up from my computer one day to find my dog sitting in Shorty's carrying crate. All her bed's were being used, so it was time to take matter into her own hands (paws, hehe).

Traffic Stopper

Age: 40 days old
Mood: Grouchy


George decided to nap by the back entrance, so we had to lock the back door to the Interpretive Centre to stop any thorough traffic... just so he wouldn't be disturbed while napping. Talk about star treatment, sheesh...

All we're missing were the traffic cones!

Sssssshhhhhhh, George is sleeping....

Perfect Roost

Flashback: June 19, several weeks old

At least if Shorty poops, the dirty laundry is already in the basket. I call that Win Win.

Get the hint yet?

Flashback: 16 days old

Looking back, I still can't believe how quickly George grew. In this photo, George is peeking out at the rest of the big world.

At 16 days old, he was already too big and too active for his case. He left me scrambling for a box that was neither too small or too big.

Otherwise Known As....

Burrowing owls go by many names: Ground Owl, Coo Coo Owl, Billy Owl, and Prairie Bobber.

My favourite, though, is the "Howdy Owl" and I think this video shows the spirit of this name.