A wild owl that noticed four small owlets at a rescue centre in Hartbeespoort, unexpectedly flew into a room and immediately adopted them as her own.
The Owl Rescue Centre in Hartbeespoort last week rescued four Barn owlets from a house in a township where they were living under a tin roof. “Due to the heat, some of the owlets had already died by the time we got there. We took the remaining owlets home and kept them in a carrier in our bedroom until they reached the correct age to be placed outside in one of our purpose-built owl houses,” Brendan Murray, co-founder of the centre said.
Now, to give some background, Brendan and his wife Danelle live in a treehouse on the rescue centre property. “One evening last week, I came into the treehouse and there were two Barn Owls lounging around on the furniture. I guided them out and managed to pursue one to fly out the window. When I turned around the other one was gone. I looked everywhere and presumed he had also flown out. However, when I returned to the house a bit later, it was still bugging me. I went to check on the babies and there was the female wild owl snugly cuddled up with her new brood!”
Brendan placed the new happy family in an owl box on the property the next day and the new mother is now devotedly looking after her new brood.
“It has happened before that wild owls have adopted orphaned owlets, but we never had a wild owl come into our home to claim rescues,” he laughed.