[HPFGU-OTChatter] Hedwig problems (aka rampid stupidity)

[Catherine Keegan]

I really wish people had half a brain when it comes to animals.  I was 
lucky enough to be able to do wildlife rehabilitation for three years.  I 
saw a lot of owls in those years.  They are not affectionate creatures that 
nibble on your ear (I always wince when I read how JKR writes 
Hedwig).  Their talons are very sharp and they use them with incredible 
speed.  They also will lunge to bite you with their very strong beaks.  The 
little guys like screech owls are cute but they're also aggressive.  I 
never worked with the snowy that we would display as a non native cool 
critter but I have worked with great horned, barn, screech, burrowing and 
spotted owls and none of them are suitable as pets.  Their dietary needs 
alone should make people pause.  (I don't know how many chicks I've de 
yolked, rats I've cut up and mice and small birds I've fed to owls but the 
smell can be really yucky. )  The museum I worked with has a great horned 
owl that some idiot "rescued" as a chick and who has a horrid degenerative 
disease because they fed her hamburger as her only protein source.   I've 
also seen a red tailed hawk with the same condition due to the same problems.

I forwarded the warning letter on owls as pets to the museum and got a 
"thanks for the heads up" response.  I just hope the poor things get turned 
into the animal shelters instead of being ignored in a cage.  If they 
haven't been screwed up too badly, they can probably be released..

Catherine in California