Wesley the Owl: The Remarkable Love Story of an Owl and His Girl » (Unabridged, 1 Mp3-CD, 7 hours)

Stacey O'Brien is trained as a biologist specializing in wild-animal behavi

On Valentine's Day 1985, biologist Stacey O'Brien met a four-day-old baby barn owl---a fateful encounter that would turn into an astonishing nineteen-year saga. With nerve damage in one wing, the owlet's ability to fly was forever compromised, and he had no hope of surviving on his own in the wild. O'Brien, a young assistant in the owl laboratory at Caltech, was immediately smitten, promising to care for the helpless owlet and give him a permanent home. Wesley the Owl is the funny, poignant story of their dramatic two decades together.

With both a tender heart and a scientist's eye, O'Brien studied Wesley's strange habits intensively---and provided a mice-only diet that required her to buy the rodents in bulk (28,000 over the owl's lifetime). As Wesley grew, O’Brien snapped photos of him at every stage like any proud parent, recording his life from a helpless ball of fuzz to a playful, clumsy adolescent to a gorgeous, gold-and-white, macho adult owl with a...

1 The Way of the Owl 1

2 To That Which You Tame, You Owe Your Life 11

3 Owl Infancy 19

4 Barn Owl Toddler: Love Me, Love My Owl 29

5 Flying Lessons 42

6 Attack Kitten on Wings 62

7 Love to Eat Them Mousies 79

8 Understanding Each Other: Sound and Body Language 89

9 Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde 100

10 A Day in the Life of a Biologist 116

11 Owls Are Not Waterbirds 137

12 Deep Bonds 156

13 The Sex Tapes 178

14 Fifteen Years of Trust 191

15 Twilight: He Whom I Tamed Saves My Life 206

16 The End 212

17 After 220

Some Things You Might Not Know About Barn Owls 225

Acknowledgments 231