The feeder: Owl book review

Girl meets owl, girl keeps owl

By VAL CUNNINGHAM, Contributing Writer

August 17, 2010 at 9:15PM
"Wesley the Owl" by Stacey O'Brien
"Wesley the Owl" by Stacey O'Brien (Star Tribune/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

"To that which you tame, you owe your life." With these words Stacey O'Brien's mentor handed her an infant barn owl to raise.

With its injured wing, the owlet would never be fully functional in the wild, so O'Brien agreed to care for the owl she named Wesley, little knowing that she was signing on for 19 years of constant companionship and the makings of an excellent book: "Wesley the Owl: The Remarkable Love Story of an Owl and His Girl" (Free Press, $23).

As a biologist and wildlife rehabilitator, O'Brien was ideally suited to the task. And her fine and funny book reveals that she learned as much from her barn owl as he did from her. "He was amazing," she writes, "curious, joyful, strong-willed, full of life, a huge soul."

With good humor, O'Brien describes daily life with her little raptor, with his swiveling head, varied vocabulary, fascination with her movements and joyous approach to each day. Barn owls, she tells us, smell like maple syrup and can hear a mouse's heart beat under 3 feet of snow.

As Wesley grows from a four-day-old ball of fluff into a gorgeous cream and gold adult, we learn how O'Brien chops up mice for Wesley, allows him to sleep with her and is astonished by his un-owlike lust for water and bathing.

Reading this wonderful book will give you a better understanding of barn owls -- and one extraordinary, charismatic bird.

about the writer

about the writer

VAL CUNNINGHAM, Contributing Writer