Boobook : attitude ++
I’ve had a thing with boobooks the last couple of years. Boobook owls are small, often mistaken for being cute (those forward facing eyes) and are devilishly good at nailing me. They also have this aura of Meaning It in a very personal way. As with all wildlife , they can read people’s intent quite well and they respond accordingly.
Most people wouldn’t know that I did some time on Planet Burnout over the past couple of years. I had a bad attitude about handling boobooks with a bad attitude about their situation. It wasn’t pretty. Just lately, though, I’ve been rediscovering all the fun nifty things in life. One of those is energy work / healing type stuff. I have used reiki on wildlife patients for over 5 years now, but had fallen out of the habit. Last night, I applied some reiki to a boobook and had really good results. She still nailed me.
This boobook was picked up after either being hit by a vehicle or attacked by diurnal birds. She was treated at another rehab centre for 5 days before being passed on to me. Her left eye is still a bit swollen and the avian vet said she may not regain sight in that eye. So the other rehab centre wants me to prey test the boobook in an aviary. Unfortunately, while in their care she did not learn to self feed. In fact, I found her to be ‘out of it’ the first couple of days.
When a non-eater arrives here and it is fat and capable of self feeding, I often leave it with food after placing a bite in their mouth. Many eat on their own the first day using this method. Sometimes they don’t, and this was the case with the boobook. So it was time for more force feeds of chopped mouse. At least she consented to swallow once the bit of food was in the back of her mouth. But she still seemed disinterested- waving the food around her face in the forceps did not result in any targeting or following with the head. That isn’t normal for a healthy bird.
Last night it was time for another force feed. As usual I wrapped her up and stuck her between my thighs to give me two free hands. Then I did some reiki on her and visualised her flying back where she came from. I then force fed her a small mouse morsel by prying open her beak and placing the food in the back of her mouth. Then I fed her a large mouse bit that included the tail. It took a bit of effort and time for her to get it down. And then she turned her head and grabbed the towel with her beak. What? She’s interacting with the environment? Good! I gently pried her loose and held another bit of mouse in front of her. She grabbed it. Yay! She ate the rest of the mouse herself, taking each bite off the forceps. We’re now making progress towards self feeding.
I gave her another short reiki session before returning her to the hospital box. Rather than clambering onto the perch, she turned around and made a run for the door- that is also new. Unfortunately, she used my hand as a launching platform and I got perforated. A sign of things to come, I hope. You know your boobook is ready to leave the hospital when it can insult your entire lineage while sinking 8 talons in and biting you symoltaneously. She’ll get there.
