Last evening as we were watching the news as we usually do before we go to bed my son called me. I was worried because he had just left home taking the dogs out for a walk so they could do their job before we closed up for the night. The strays on the road were barking rather loudly and that got me worried, picking up the call as I rushed to the road to see if he was anywhere in sight, but he wasn't.
"Mom there is an owl here and looks like he is hurt can I bring him home" he said. "Seriously???Are you kidding me? You cannot bring owls home." and I cut the call rudely. I went back to watch the news . The hubs was asking me what it was about and before I could explain the boy was back panting heavily and so were the dogs.
"Ma, ("ma' is always used when he wants something desperately) please, I think he has a broken wing or something. He is a baby he cannot fly, the strays are all around, please let me bring him home." I looked at the hubs, the look on his face said leave me out of this. I weighed what Mark said, you can't leave a poor hurt bird to be eaten by strays can you? "Hmm, maybe just for the night" , I said. Before I could finish the sentence he was off with a dirty rag he picked up, the one he uses to clean his shoes.
He was back with a bird. a cute looking thing. I didn't know where to put him, he found a card box in which the dog food had arrived earlier in the day. He found a couple of rags and put him there but not before I petted the bird. The bird pecked the jeepers out of Mark's hand lol when he tried to pet him.
We decided it would be hard to check what was wrong with him if he pecks us so hard and we decided to take him to the vet in the morning.
What we forgot was the weekend curfew was on and that vets here don't see pets on weekends, only for emergencies. Now I am stuck with a baby owl who pecks like crazy won't let me see how he is hurt and ........ the worst bit, he eats only insects and small birds.
Yes, he is the Indian Eagle owl . I just remembered that Hubs and I watched one at the lake last year swallowing a medium sized snake, just like that . We've been feeding him bits of chicken for breakfast and lunch and I guess after seeing the vet see him on Monday we'll let him go where we found him, if there is nothing serious.
Lying down on my bed last night I was thinking about the times I as a kid begged my mom to let me keep all the stray puppies, hurt animals at home. Mom wasn't like me though, she always threatened to throw me and the animal out. I wouldn't blame her because I was called the (Zoo girl @sofs-su/my-favourite-childhood-memory) for nothing, I had a mini zoo at home.
The kid doesn't seem much different from his mom, the seed doesn't fall much further than the tree, does it?. A Dr. Doo Little in the making. He is studying to be a doctor, but he is more interested in animals. He has brought a parakeet, a crow , a budgie and a few stray dogs home before. There were two strays dogs he fed regularly until they died in a fight. He cried like a baby when I told him that Pointy and Mr. Brown died.
I think I've had enough adventure for the weekend now with this eagle owl. I cannot wait to release him back into his natural environment at the earliest. Funnily the bird seems to be eating all he can and enjoying the attention too. He doesn't seem to be in any kind of pain, perhaps its just that he is too small that he can't fly. These owls grow up to a feet or more in height.
Thanks for stopping by to meet the Dr. Doolittle in the making and his new Eagle owl.