Wearing gloves to protect herself from the injured screech owl's claws and beak, Suzanne Shoemaker gets ready to feed Angora. (Katherine Frey/Washington Post).
Interesting Washington Post story on a recent influx of five injured Eastern Screech Owls at the Owl Moon Raptor Center since December. All five likely tangled with cars and that is the case for most owl injuries that come to the attention of humans. Rehab centers do great work, much of it by volunteers, but it costs money to run these operations and care for these precious creatures. Consider learning the location of your closest rehab center and donating time, money or needed equipment to help.
Screech Owls live 3 or 4 years if they are lucky. One of the reasons I think we have seen the same Screech Owl breeding pair in our backyard for three years in a row is they do not have to cross any public highways, but have a 10 acre landlocked conservation area as their primary territory. Of course they cruise through the yards of the subdivision at night looking for bugs and lizards. We should soon start hearing the trilling and calling of our owls as they hopefully get ready to move into the nest box again.
