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Inside The Secret Underground Laboratory

#602
Bruce Johnson said:
By the way, we have a new tenant here in the Lab.....A Great Horned Owl! Whooo? He flew in a few days ago, and has been hanging around. He flies around my shop, perches various places, and stares at me. I've tried to start a conversation with him, but he doesn't say much. He's not particularly afraid of me. I can walk within a few feet of him. Sitting perched, he's about a foot tall. About a 24" wingspan. The literature says that they can grow to 4' wingspan!!! It appears to be a young male.

Kind of startling to turn around and he suddenly swoops by! He flies silently, except for banging into things. He doesn't do any real damage, except knocking lightweight things off of the tops of shelves and cabinets. I'm careful to put instruments in progress away, in case he should try to land on one.

During the day he mostly flies over into Unit 13, next to me. It's a storage warehouse space, and the tenant is hardly ever here. I presume the owl finds a dark corner to perch in there, and sleeps. He doesn't appear to be doing any damage or making a nest or anything. Supposedly, the males don't really make nests. They just find a comfortable quiet spot to rest and sleep. I'm okay with that.

At night, he heads out hunting, sometimes gone for a day or two. Their preferred food is birds, particularly crows. We've got lots of crows around this neighborhood. Yum! I'm sure that's why he picked our building to operate from. They also eat mice, rats and sometimes lizards. But their main mission in life is hunting crows.

They say not to try and give them food or water; they take care of themselves. They don't make good pets that you can snuggle with and dress in cute costumes. Their beaks and claws are very strong, almost equal to eagles! They are rarely dangerous to humans, but you have to respect their strength and fighting skill. I have no intention of trying to touch him. I'm okay with him hanging around, if he's not damaging anything. A quiet friend, watching over me.

I haven't given him a name yet. I asked him, but he just gave me that silent glare. Scott suggested Oliver.
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Awesome news! Hi Oliver!
 
#605
I’m a little concerned Bruce is going to get bored one night and Oliver I’d going to have a “friend.” :D:laugh:


604F90DD-23C1-4DFE-BC52-6306E837D3EE.jpeg
 
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#612
RichterScale said:
We need pics.
He might look like a Larry. Or a Jebb. Or a Francis.
(Another reason we need pics is to verify that Bruce hasn't been spending just a little too much time in the underground lab)
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I can verify that Bruce has been spending a little too much time in the underground lab. That has resulted in some erratic behavior. And an unusual lifestyle. But my bird-spotting senses are still sharp.

I haven't been able to get a picture of him yet. He just appears randomly every so often. I walk in or turn a corner, and there he is, sitting on a wall or a high piece of furniture. I stop and freeze, and we stare at each other for a minute. I've been as close to him as 3 feet. But if I start moving around, like getting a camera out, he flies off. I'll get a shot of him eventually. I haven't seen him in the last 24 hours.

He looks exactly like this picture:

The Great Horned Owl.jpg
 
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#614
Wood and Wire said:
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Hah! That's a funny scene! No, there's been no threats or blows either way between the owl and I. We just stare at each other with curiosity for a moment, and then each go our way. I'm deliberately trying not to be threatening or aggressive toward him. The only time I shoo'd him away was one time he landed on one of my computer monitors, and knocked it over. Then he just sat on top of it and stared at me as if nothing was wrong.
 
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#615
You'll need to source or build a large tree-like structure. Preferably one with several perches and even a hollowed out section near the top.
Computer monitors clearly aren't gonna cut it.
I wouldn't doubt he's giving some pretty bad reviews on the owl forum.
 
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