THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, November 26, 1995 TAG: 9511230287
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 02 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: Coastal Journal
SOURCE: Mary Reid Barrow
LENGTH: Long : 101 lines
This fall, I've been hearing the eerie tremulous sound of the tiny screech owl many evenings around dusk when I go out to walk the dog.
I've never seen the owl (or owls) but it has made me very aware of its presence around my house by its twilight calls. Whenever I walk in Seashore State Park in the late afternoon now, I hear the screech owl's whinny, too. It seems there are more of the little owls than ever this year.
For sure, Virginia Beach Wildlife Society rehabilitator Jim Hook has been seeing more screech owls than usual this fall. In the past three weeks, he's tended to four ailing screech owls in one fashion or another, more than he had cared for altogether in two years of rehabilitation work.
Hook rescued the first owl from a chimney and let it go. He thinks the other three were hit by cars.
``They hunt very low,'' he said. ``And they could either be flying across the road or hunting on the road.''
Small rodents and insects are both screech owl prey. More rodents and insects could be out on the road this time of year, Hook speculated, seeking warmth from the pavement heated by the sun during the day.
``I'm really distressed about people hitting them and not stopping to pick them up,'' Hook said. ``It's often a glancing blow that comes after being blinded by headlights.''
The first screech owl, delivered to Hook's care from a roadside in Haygood, was dazed. After four days of nurturing, the little bird was on its feet and ready to be released. It hasn't been so easy for a screech owl that was picked up along the road by a Seashore State Park ranger.
This one was named Lazarus by the veterinarian who had given the owl up for dead when Hook brought it in. Lazarus suffered a concussion, a damaged eye and a broken wing but the stoic little bird is getting better each day, Hook said. It's perching on the side of its box and grasping food with its talons.
The other day, Jeremy McMahan, 8, and his mother Becky were at Hook's house to check on the progress of still another screech owl that appeared to have collided with a car. Jeremy had found the owl in the road in front of his house in the Kings Grant area. He named it Archimedes after the owl in the book, ``The Sword and the Stone.''
``It was a lump in the road and we didn't know what it was. It wasn't moving,'' Jeremy's mother said. ``It was so docile, we just picked it up and scooped it into a box.''
At the time the McMahans thought they had a baby owl. Little screech owls with their ear tufts do look somewhat like miniature great horned owls or other larger owls with ear tufts. At 10 inches, however, screech owls are full grown, giving them the distinction of being the smallest owl with ear tufts.
The McMahans took Archimedes to Hook. The owl's left eye was partially closed and stayed dilated. This led Hook to believe Archimedes also had suffered a concussion.
``Docile'' did not exactly describe Archimedes by the time the McMahans re-visited their ailing bird. Filled with healthy, nutritious food manufactured especially for hawks and owls, Archimedes was more like his old screech owl self.
Not only was the eye healing, opening wider and wider every day, but when Hook lifted the owl out of its habitat, it puffed up its feathers and clicked its beak rapidly, a screech owl's way of showing displeasure.
``That's what I like to see!'' Hook said, of the owl's feisty behavior.
Screech owls are known to be feisty, especially when defending their nests. They will sometimes even strike at the head of an innocent passerby who walks under a nest at night.
Later in the week, Archimedes proved to Hook that he was capable of handling live prey by capturing and devouring a mouse in its cage. That was the sign to Hook that the owl was ready to go back to the wild. Hook released Archimedes in the McMahan's yard near where it was found.
``He knew where he was. He flew up and around the tree,'' Hook said. ``It's the greatest feeling.''
Jeremy may have a hard time seeing Archimedes again because screech owls do their hunting at night. During the day, they stay very still. They often sit back in the crook of a tree, their mottled coloring, sometimes rufous (brownish-red) and sometimes gray, blending in with the tree bark.
But Jeremy is bound to hear Archimedes' call.
P.S. IF A SCREECH OWL flies into your car or you find one on the road, pick it up, using a towel, scarf or gloves. As small as it is, the owl still has a strong beak and talons if it's not too dazed to use them. Don't try to feed it but keep it warm in a box and call the Virginia Beach Wildlife Society, 425-2068. MEMO: What unusual nature have you seen this week? And what do you know about
Tidewater traditions and lore? Call me on INFOLINE, 640-5555. Enter
category 2290. Or, send a computer message to my Internet address:
mbarrow(AT)infi.net.
ILLUSTRATION: Jeremy McMahan, 8, checks on the progress of Archimedes the
screech owl with Jim Hook, a Virginia Beach Wildlife Society
rehabilitator.
Photos by MARY REID BARROW
Jeremy McMahan, 8, checks on the progress of Archimedes, the screech
owl, with Jim Hook, a Virginia Beach Wildlife Society
rehabilitator.
by CNB