Otis the owl will be sharing the spotlight now that another owl has been adopted by Medicine River Wildlife Centre.
Olive the owl, also a great horned owl, was about four weeks old when it rescued earlier in the summer at River Bend Golf Club.
“She had been sitting in the middle of the golf course calling for about four days. She was a bit thin and kind of small. We decided to allow her to become socialized with us,” said Carol Kelly, executive director of the wildlife centre.
Kelly said the activity of golfers may have scared the rest of her family away. As the runt of the litter she may have been left behind, or strong winds may have blown her away and onto the golf course.
She said the centre does about 150 educational presentations annually and Otis couldn’t keep up with all the bookings. With the addition of Olive, even more presentations are possible.
“Now we don’t have to worry about juggling poor Otis back and forth. He can just spend a little bit of more of his time hanging out in his big, new cage on the edge of the children’s playground. He can be more visible and do his education here at the centre, and Olive can be more on the road. It’s actually working out well.”
Olive could grow to weigh about 1.8 kilograms (four pounds), compared to Otis who is only 1.1 kg (2.5 pounds).
“We often get people saying what’s the difference between males and females. Now we’ve got the two so you can see how much bigger she is.”
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Kelly said as a younger owl, Olive also has her own unique personality compared Otis who was rescued when he was only days old so he imprinted on people.
“She knows she’s an owl because she opened her eyes and was raised partially by owls so she has a different outlook on life. Otis thinks he’s a human.”
szielinski@reddeeradvocate.com
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