From the Ojai Raptor Center

Meet adult Great Horned Owl (GHOW) Patient 24-502, affectionately nicknamed “Skunk-boy” by our hospital staff. Owls, like most other birds of prey, do not have a strongly developed sense of smell. It’s not uncommon for us to receive Red-tailed Hawk or Great Horned Owl patients reeking of skunk. At least we can assume they are less bothered by it than we are!

Aside from his skunky scent, 24-502 was admitted with eye trauma and a wing droop. Both are healing, and he has already graduated to an outdoor enclosure where his flight continues to improve daily. As you can see when GHOW 24-502 is not being physically restrained by one of our hospital technicians for an exam as he is in the first photo, he immediately takes a defensive posture of fanning out his wings and looking fierce! As apex predators, these owls need to be in order to secure their place in the ecosystem. 24-502 is obviously pretty good at striking this pose and we can’t wait to return him to the wild asap.

    • @FierySpectre
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      64 months ago

      Nice contrast with how menacing he looks in the other pics haha. This one is straight up cute

      • anon6789OP
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        34 months ago

        The anger was really just a cry for a hug! 😁

    • FuglyDuck
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      34 months ago

      it amazes me this is the same owl. Not because of the crazy/cute thing, but because of the difference in size.

      This guy has a lot of floof. Like. i’m kinda jealous.