Fellow Mortals--Compassion Changes Everything

With December come preparations for those who celebrate Christmas and observe other winter traditions--and for great horned owls, the cold and clear nights are filled with social events and meet and greets as well--important occasions for this 'tiger of the night,' for this is the time that mated pairs again roost together and new partners are chosen by young birds breeding for the first time, or by those adults who have lost a mate.

Great horned owls are monogamous and often mate for life.  They are the first birds to nest every season and do not build their own nest, but utilize a structure built by another species--sometimes a squirrel, sometimes another bird--or a natural cavity.  The average nest is two to three eggs, laid at the end of January and incubated to hatch at the end of February.

Once the first egg is laid, the female will leave the nest infrequently to stretch her wings or do 'house keeping,' perhaps tidying a branch or moving a piece of uneaten food.  The male, however, is more active than ever, as he is now hunting for two.  Once all the eggs hatch, the male is responsible for providing for the entire family for the first month, until the nestlings are able to maintain their own body temperature without being incubated by the female.  The parents will still be close by, and if the young are threatened the large adults will appear suddently on silent, powerful wings.

When the young owls have fledged (left the nest), at about 4 weeks of age, they will perch on branches around the nest site while the adult owls hunt for the family.  Nature has perfectly timed the birth of the first prey animals to coincide with the needs of the voracious young owls, who grow rapidly in the first weeks of life and will be as large as their parents by six to eight weeks of age--long before they are capable of surviving on their own.

The young of predatory birds stay with their parents much longer than those of young of other species and great horned owls are no exception.  The young birds must not only be capable of flight but must learn from experience and their parents to become proficient hunters before they leave their parents to find their own territory and a mate before embarking on what can be a very long life in the wild.

Great horned owls can be found across North America, and similar species occur world wide.  Not only are these birds magnificent creatures, but they are the top of the pyramid in their niche in nature, and are crucial to maintaining balance in prey populations.

It is a rare privilege to hear the hooting of a great horned owl pair--or a number of individuals on a 'meet and greet' seeking to find a mate or establish a territory, so if you are fortunate to hear their hooting some December evening, remember that while we humans go about the preparations so important to our species, the wild ones have their own rituals and celebrations as well.

Thank you for the support that makes it possible for us to continue to provide help for the great horned owls that come to us injured or orphaned--and for allowing us to educate to inspire respect for all wild ones with whom we share the earth.

Links:

• Orphaned owls raised by captive foster owl

Dear friend,

It’s been awhile since you’ve heard from us, and we hope we have a good explanation—it’s been another very busy season and we have provided necessary care to over 1700 injured or orphaned birds and mammals—with hundreds released in the last few months, including 80 just a few days ago.

2018 has come with great opportunities and challenges and changes. 

The new construction on our Critical Care Wing is coming along beautifully—from epoxy floors to barn doors to heated countertops and species-specific furnishings, Phase I is slated to open in November, and we are less than $100,000 from meeting the cost to finish Phase II—with many opportunities remaining to name a room or sponsor a specialized piece of equipment.

31 injured and orphaned deer received care—the largest number since deer rehabilitation became legal again in 2014. In May, we responded to 73 incidences where people believed a fawn had been orphaned.  All 73 situations were resolved without taking an animal into care.  We invest what we can in preventative education and have big plans for what we could achieve with greater funding.

May 23rd was a hard day, as we said goodbye to “Judith,” our foster white-tailed deer.  She had been a part of Fellow Mortals' family for 18 years since coming to us critically ill and emaciated.  From the fragile fawn she grew into a beautiful doe who was foster mother to orphaned fawns for many years.  That morning when I went to check on her was the first time she was unable to stand, too weak to get up and join her family to graze in their spacious half acre habitat.  

Our commitment to the wild ones is a promise: to release the wild one back to the wild if at all possible and, if a wild one stays with us when it cannot be released, we promise to give it the best  life possible in our care--no matter how long that life may be.

This year, Fellow Mortals' wildlife rehabilitators will provide 13,000 hours of hands-on care to over 2000 animals.  Because we donate so much of that time, your donation goes far to help the wild ones with us temporarily and those with us permanently. 

Fellow Mortals doesn’t close, not even for a day.   If we are equipped for a species, we will help.  People often drive many hours to Fellow Mortals to find care for the wild one they have rescued, rather than see it put to sleep because they can't find help.  We see the best in people every single day.  They make it easy to keep our promise to the wild ones.

Judith was and is our heart, and will always symbolize Fellow Mortals’ commitment doing the best we can for every individual that comes into our care.  Thank you for your gift that helped us keep our promise to her--and that will help us keep our promise to the wild ones who will need us tomorrow.

Links:

• Permanent foster parents at Fellow Mortals