This little owlet got herself into a pickle by attempting to fly too soon. She was first spotted scratching at my neighbors back door. Once spotted she  became quite vociferous, puffed her breast out, and vigorously started flapping her wings. Then she made a beeline for a nearby dead pine tree and attempted to climb the branchless pole. Because she could not fly, she desperately tried to claw her way to the top of this 50 foot tree. Meanwhile, the mother owl was above circling the area to keep an eye on the owlet.

Finally, after about 15 minutes of struggling to climb the tree, she was overcome with exhaustion and fell 25-30 feet to the ground. Fortunately, my neighbors were on the scene and quickly moved to aid the little owlet.  Kent rushed out with a towel, swooped her up, and rushed her to Northwood Animal Hospital. The owl was then taken to  St. Francis Wildlife Refuge. Upon her arrival,  the director of St. Francis, John,  examined her and noted no apparent injuries. She was kept overnight for observation. John is sure that she will likely be reintroduced to our back yard habitat or placed in a nearby tree so that the parents can continue to feed and teach her survival skills. Sadly, one of the owlets did not survive the likely fall from the tree in which the owls were nesting.

John climbing the ladder to sit the baby owlet (Bubo) on a branch of the tree. Her parents began circling immediately and calling out to her. Apparently, the owlet will remain in the surrounding trees until she is big enough to fly. Her parents will bring her food to eat until she is able to fly and hunt on her own.

Little Bubo is now living at St. Frances Wildlife Refuge because she continued to fall out of the tree. She will remain there until she is mature. To our surprise, we found another sibling of Little Bubo not far from the tree that Little Bubo was desperately trying to climb. I am elated to see that two of the owlets have survived this critical period of development.

Some people believe that rescuing wildlife is interfering with the natural order of creation; therefore, any intervention is viewed as inappropriate. However, humankind is largely responsible for many of the reasons why wildlife finds itself in peril i.e., hasty development, urban sprawl, horizontal building, building on fragile coastlines, destruction of sand dunes and marshes, clear-cutting forest, not replanting  destroyed or damaged forests, and unnecessary use of pesticides and fertilizers. One problem directly associated with human negligence is driving at speeds that does not allow for either wildlife to flee or give the driver a chance to stop or turn to prevent hitting the animal. Increased population density, hasty and  poorly planned development, and habitat destruction has created alarming concern for conservationist who recognize the decline of critical ecosystems and  increased likelihood of species extinction.   Therefore, helping wildlife, is one way to help balance a situation that is unfairly tilted in humankinds favor. Give the rest of God's creatures a chance. Taking care of God's creation is our mandate and anything less is a direct act of disobedience to God. Thank God for people like Jane and Kent  who love and care about wildlife and are willing to intervene when they see one of God's creatures in crisis.