ROANOKE, Va. (WVVA) — The Roanoke County Police brought an owlet, who was less than one month old, to the Southwest Virginia Wildlife Center after he was found on a porch.
"We've had some storms and some heavy winds recently here in southwest Virginia, so likely what happened in those heavy winds that dislodged the bird from the nest, he fell out of the nest and was on someone's porch for two days by himself before the police were called and the police brought him to us," said Haley Olsen-Hodges, the director of operations for the Southwest Virginia Wildlife Center.
The center believes it had been some time since the owlet had been fed, meaning his mom and dad are not around to take care of him.
Luckily, the center was able to take it in. But the owlet can't stay with its rescuers for too long.
"Birds of prey can imprint just like ducklings do on humans, and the more contact we have with that wild animal, the more there's a possibility that it could become, you know, habituated or even imprinted... on a human. And obviously, we don't want that, we want to do what we can to return this animal to the wild," said Olsen-Hodges.
The owlet is still too young to feed himself, so the center uses long forceps as a "beak" to get bits of meat into the baby's mouth.
They also have another method of interacting with the owl, and it's a little bit unusual.
"We also wear a mask that makes us look like a great horned owl that has little eyeholes so we can see,” said Olsen-Hodges.
In addition to the masks, the center lets the owlet see other owls in their care to become more familiar with its own species.
The owlet will be in the care of the center until it's ready to be on its own, which Olsen-Hodges says won't be until early fall.
