D and I volunteer for the Arizona Game and Fish Department at their Adobe Mountain Wildlife Center once a night to do night feedings and also every other Sunday to clean, feed, medicate, etc. We work very hard and it's little things like this that make all of it worthwhile.We took only three of several barn owls that were brought in as babies and raised by a surrogate mom at the Center to Havasu with us. They were old enough to take a stab at life out in the real world. There are several wildlife sanctuaries located around Lake Havasu and Parker area, protected areas that serve as a great home to birds and mammals alike.
They rode in the back seat of the truck with us. You wouldn't have even known they were there except for a slight odor coming from their crate. Thank goodness Kyle, D's 16 yr. old son traveling with us, hadn't noticed! Or else it would have been a very long trip.
We waiting until dusk the following day to release them. It was a bit nerve wracking. There was a slight rain shower as we drove to where we were thinking of releasing them. I didn't want to have them spend their first night out in the rain, but we didn't have any more food to feed them. It was time. Thank goodness, the rain cleared up and we parked on the side of the road near the Bill Williams Bridge. We hiked down a rock slide to get as close to the bottom and away from the road as possible.
D carried them down and my Dad, his wife Donna and myself all had our cameras ready. I thought for sure they would take a little coaxing, but as soon as D removed the towel that was in the crate, the first one popped out and nearly took D's head off! One by one they popped out on their own.
We sat there for a while until it was getting to dark to walk back up safely. Two landed together and the third landed in a different spot. Within minutes he joined the other two. The three were all very well camouflaged. All we could see were their little white faces bouncing around like ghosts. I'd like to think that it was their way of saying "Thanks!"
