Mayflower

Our New Baby!!

Hello, my name is Mayflower. I'm a baby Great Horned Owl.
My mother had a nest in a tree that humans wanted to cut down to build a road. They took away our home and the place she chose to raise her family. I will never, ever know my mother, but I think I will be just like her.

(at right, Mayflower in the incubator)

While I was working hard to make my way out of my egg, my new human foster Mom did something special. She planted a tree for the one that was our home and was cut down. It will give a home and life to many birds and animals.

I hatched on May 2, 1998 at 9:30 p.m. It took me 36 hours to get out of my egg. Fortunately I had help from my human foster mom. She peeled away those hard eggshells that surrounded my body. They felt so confining, but once I had my right wing out and I could move my head I felt much better. Now I can stretch and move and feel good.

I am warm and comfortable in my incubator. The folks here in the ICU are taking great care of me and feeding me tiny bits of mice when I'm hungry. I have a feather duster over me to make me feel secure, it's not my real Mom but it'll do in a pinch. Soft towels cushion my tiny feet and legs. The picture is me at 6 days old. Check back in a week or so and you can see more pictures as I begin to grow.

May 18, 1998

I couldn't wait all week to tell you what happened! I have a friend. I really have a friend! I was moved out of the incubator, feather duster & all! Now I live with Annie. She's a little older than I, but is very sweet and polite. We have lots in common, because we both are Great Horned Owls...and she likes to eat too!

(At left, Here I am at 2 weeks. Can you see my pot belly?)

She won't tell me anything, because she thinks I am too young to hear all this. Annie got a bath and her eyes and lids were cleaned and medicated, and now she looks absolutely beautiful!

Across the room from us, in a large cage is another owl. I think he is a Daddy Owl with big ear tufts, large yellow eyes and huge feet. His strong black talons (that's what we call the claws) are large and shiny. One of his wings does not look quite right and he cannot fly. I heard a rumor that he was hit by a car. What's a car? He misses his family terribly and his eyes are so sad! He looks at us all day. I think I like him very much! When I try to look at him I have to move my neck. This way my head goes up and down and sideways and then I suddenly can see him clearly. I can't move my eyes from the left to the right, but I sure can move my neck!

At night, when no one is around Daddy Owl even talks to us: Hoo-hoo- - -hoo-hoo. Why does this sound so familiar?
M O T H E R...? Yes, I remember you! I would really like to get to know him better. But I guess I am still a little young for that. For now I will go back to sleep and cuddle with my feather duster and Annie and grow a little more. Some day soon I will get to meet Daddy Owl.

(Pretty cute, huh? I'm starting to look like a real owl)

May 14, 1998

I am two weeks old today. My eyes are open now, and they are blue. Slowly, I am beginning to see things. Everything still looks kind of blurry.

Want to know what I have been doing the last week? I ate, and ate, and ate! In between I am waiting to hear something that sounds just like my mother's voice... hooo-hoo - - hoo-hoo. I always wake up to that sound and answer right away, with my little voice and ask to be fed.

The food is really good here, I can highly recommend this place. My human foster mom makes sure that I get all the things my own mother would have given me. Like bones and fur, so I can make my very own little pellets.

My own bones are growing and I am getting bigger every day. That's why I have to eat so much, because everything is growing so fast! Sometimes I fall asleep when they feed me. It's such hard work to grow and eat at the same time.

Out of my white downy feathers little gold and white barred feathers are sprouting. I try to preen my new feathers. They look so neat and they make me feel kind of grown up. And then I fall asleep when I am in the middle of my chores.

I hear them talk about me. Sometimes I stick my head out of the feather duster and listen when they think I am sleeping. They say I am chubby and I have a pot belly, and then I hear them say how cute I am. Well, I know that!

I also heard that I am a very late baby, since most baby owls hatch in April around here. Because I hatched in May, they named me Mayflower.

So long for now, I will report back next week and tell you all about what has happened.

I love you too -- Mayflower

May 23, 1998 - Mayflower & Annie meet their foster Daddy

Today was a magical day. Annie and I met Daddy owl. All three of us were moved into a large cage and I finally met Daddy in person. Just as a suspected, he is wonderful. We posed for a few pictures and that was fine. Daddy was a little nervous, but Annie and I knew how wonderful he was when we met him first.

(At left, here we are with our new Daddy!)

When Annie saw him for the first time she took a long, long look at him, bobbed her head up and down and sideways, and decided, YES, this is what she has been missing for a long time. Annie was so happy to see another owl, that she reached over and began to preen her hew Daddy's feathers. I think both of them missed their family terribly, and suddenly both of them are so happy.

I really don't know what to think about all of this, because Daddy is someone I wanted to meet for a long time. Late tonight, when all was quiet, Daddy came to visit with us. He left his perch and joined us. For the first time there is happiness in his eyes, because he adopted us and now has a new family. Oh, do I love my new Daddy!

My human foster mom had a big happy smile on her face as she stood for a long, long time before our cage in disbelief and appreciation. Daddy loves us, and that's what counts.

I got my wish --- I met my new Daddy. I even got to keep my feather duster! I still like to wabble towards it and sleep under it. It seems everybody is happy tonight. Life is good!

Yours truly, Mayflower

Updated by Elke on September 8, 2005 10:47 PM