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Stacey O'Brien : Wesley the Owl
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Monday, May 3, 2010
Here's what I'm going to do:
<http://wesleytheowl.blogspot.com/2010/05/heres-what-im-going-to-do.html>
Ok.
Some people were extremely put off by my "anger" in the following blog
post. However, it's not so much anger as a defense of my and all other
scientists' reputations.
When someone with so huge an audience (including the media) goes on
daily and declares that "Scientists have never worked with wild owls"
and implies that therefore anything we have to say about owls is
tainted, this is damaging to our reputations and to the information we
are giving to the public. It also impacts me as an author, directly.
So what do I do?
So far, nothing. But enough really IS enough.
He has been told repeatedly that what he is saying is not true, that I
have worked w/ wild owls and studied almost 100 nests in the wild, and
that scientists have been studying wild owls for over a century and that
we've been putting cameras in nests since cameras were invented, that we
are the ones who came up w/ that idea in the first place.
He then goes on the next day and continues to say that scientists have
not worked w/ wild owls.
True, it is a real bummer to have to put up such a strongly worded post.
But after someone has been told over and over and over again, what am I
to do?
So here's what I'm going to do:
I'm going to leave this post up for now, but I'm submitting the entire
matter to Simon and Schuster's legal team first thing in the morning and
I will do as they advise. There is a limit as to how long THEY will put
up with one of their authors being slandered publicly, especially in
terms of slandering that author's credentials.
Remember that this is a serious matter that can affect my career as an
author and biologist as well as the careers of other biologists who have
spent their entire lives on barn owl behavior.
Maybe that doesn't matter to the public, but it matters to the
scientists and to the publishers. So. That's that then.
Stay tuned and we''ll see what Simon and Schuster has to say about it.
... we'll see.
-Stacey
Posted by Stacey O'Brien at 11:27 PM
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comments
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Labels: Copyright 2010 Stacey O'Brien
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Why Most Scientists Refuse to Be Bothered.... or...ENOUGH!!!!
<http://wesleytheowl.blogspot.com/2010/05/why-most-scientists-refuse-to-be.html>
Hi! I'm back from a WONDERFUL trip to Bellingham and a tour of one of
the best run wildlife centers around.
But I came back to read about some of the things said about scientists
and really, I have been holding my "tongue" quite well, I think.
And I'm exhausted, so my defenses are a bit down and I'm probably not as
liable to be able to focus on the "bigger picture", whatever that is,
and I'm soo.. sooo... tired that I feel myself getting a tiny bit
impatient. I've tried to just ignore the things being said about
scientists ...
But there is a time to say...ENOUGH!!!!!!
How DARE anyone go on the internet, day after day, in front of a huge
audience, and ignorantly declare that "scientists work with CAPTIVE
owls, not WILD OWLS.
THIS IS A LIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!
I have said, over and over again, on the owl box, when I knew a certain
someone was also logged in, that I and other scientists have worked with
and observed hundreds and hundreds, possibly thousands collectively, of
WILD OWLS.
WHY would ANYONE want to LIE about scientists, when they themselves are
IGNORANT? Why is there such hostility to scientists?
Has this person EVER read a scientific journal in his LiFE? Obviously
not, because in all the journals I read, even though I"m just a stupid
biologist who is clearly so beneath big time businessmen that I should
hide my little blonde head in the lab and we can all pretend that
scientists are a bunch of idiots who have NEVER EVER EVEN THOUGHT of
putting a CAMERA in a NEST before, ....pant pant....in nearly all the
journals I read they are talking about their observations of WILD OWLS!
Well DUHHHHHHHH....who came UP with the whole IDEA of putting cameras in
nests, Huh Huh? Classs...CLAAAAAASSSSSSS.......
(Anyone? Anyone?)
Scientists.
YES!
Who came UP with the careful observation of animals in the wild, in
studies that last over 50 continuous years, with reams of extremely
detailed field notes all compiled and shared worldwide HUH? CLASSSS
CLAAAAAASSSSSSSSS (anyone? anyone?)
scientists.
----YES!
Poor dumb dizzy headed scientists. Blunderheads all.
And who has dedicated their LIVES to the conservation of habitat and who
has sounded the alarms about how we are destroying ourselves(ultimately)
when we destroy habitat and poison the environment....CLAAASSS
CLAAAAAAASSSSSSS///anyone?anyone?
scientists.
poor unbathed humble poverty-stricken disheveled sodden dunderbunder
scientists.
Now, now that anyone can get a camera and get famous, they're all
experts, right?
Instant knowledge! Just add water and stir.
Man has been exploiting animals for profit for centuries in circuses and
dogfights cockfights, shows,....
OK. now.
The guy who put these owlboxes up all over north county San Diego is
NOTORIOUS among wildlife experts. For YEARS wildlife experts have
watched this guy and, agonizing over the results, have patiently taken
in the HUNDREDS of injured baby owls, carefully nurturing them back to
health. Vets have volunteered their time, surgeries, and X-Ray machines,
people have labored day and night to teach these owls to hunt, to
strengthen their wings so they cold fly...all because of this one guy
and his hack of a business selling "owlboxes" on a pole to unsuspecting,
innocent homeowners.
I am quoting a FEDERAL AGENT here who said, "This guy has been fleecing
San Diegans for years. It's sickening."
From what I heard Carlos state when challenged about where all these
donations are going, I got the message that he is shutting out Tom and
wants to sell owlboxes and other bird boxes HIMSELF, but he worded it by
saying he was going to "Provide habitat and put boxes all over San Diego".
First: The reason all the boxes he saw are just like the one he has is
that the "owl box business" in San Diego is dominated by the same guy
who sold him his owl box.
Second: Boxes are not "habitat".
Habitat is a complex ecosystem that includes dead hollow trees, etc
where owls can nest and owlets can fledge. Oh..yeah. We already
destroyed that. So we put up "owlboxes" but if we're trying to
substitute for a TREE.... a TREEEEEEEEEeeeeee......
oh dear. I see the problem.
See, evolution doesn't work overnight. Owls, over the last, oh, 100
million years, have always been able to count on the fact that if they
found a hollow place, it would pretty much end up being in a tree. Barn
owls are not attracted to cliff faces, so trees it is. We can't just
decide that they should now have evolved to fit our idea of what kind of
owlbox we wish to build.
We need to do it correctly.
Now. Why am I responding so strongly?
Well, I'm tired, exhausted really, and.....
I am sick, sick, sick of hearing (and I've heard this from Carlos' mouth
directly)
That we scientists (meaning me, I suppose) have "NEVER WORKED WITH WILD
OWLS"
Oh, So is Carlos doing something COMPLETELY NEW HERE? WOW! WOW! OH how
embarrassing. Silly scientists! WHY oh WHY didn't we SCIENTISTS EVER
THINK OF THAT!!??? GOSH we feel so STUPID now!
oh please.
give me a break.
does ANYONE believe what he is saying? ANYONE? Isn't it an OBVIOUS LIE?
Think about it:
Scientists are so intent upon watching wild creatures that we have
created/used submarines and other submersibles to get as deep into the
ocean as possible to understand deep ocean organisms. We crawl through
jungles and have our feet rot off and get all kinds of tropical diseases
just for the pleasure of learning how this or that animal behaves IN THE
WILD. We camp for years in snow, rain, hail, wind, extreme heat, just to
watch our species of choice 24/7 for days, weeks. months, years. lifetimes.
Lifetimes have been spent watching wild barn owls.
Did you know that?
LIFETIMES!
Yes. I personally know several biologists who have given every moment of
their lives to watching BARN OWLS in the WILD!
One of them was my mentor.
Did they ever even marry? NO
Did they have families? NO
Why?
THEY WERE WATCHING WILD BARN OWLS AND THAT WAS THE SUM OF THEIR ENTIRE
LIVES.
So to hear this over and over again is so deeply, deeply, deeply
insulting I really am at a loss for words.
Of course, my mentor just laughs and says, "What do you expect? This guy
is not a scientist? He will never be able to grasp it!"
But I tend to be more of an optimist than that. (although I must admit
my mentor has been doing this since the end of WW2 and I haven't).
There ARE A few of us who do venture out and 'go public' with our
acquired knowledge because we think it IS important for people to know
what we've seen, to understand what we've come to understand.
Because what we've come to understand impacts the world around us!
Because we LIVE ON THIS PLANET WITH THESE ANIMALS!
So it might actually be IMPORTANT to share what we've learned and what
we've come to understand.
And we feel very passionate about that.
I remember one time I went into the lab all upset because Jack Hanna
had, for possibly the thousandth time, gone on late night TV and
declared to the world that "Owls hunt by echolocation, just like bats!"
Now, this is a running joke among scientists. Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha He did
it again. Oh ha ha ha those silly regular people.
But I was upset because we had spent, oh 40+ some odd years in our one
program proving how owls hunt by hearing and all the brain systems and
physical adaptations and silent feathering and all, Oh god, All that WORK!
The work itself represents hundreds of post docs and professors and
field biologists and lab biologists from places like Harvard, Caltech,
MIT, Purdue, Cornell, Stanford, and from other countries as well....but
no one even cares....spending their LIVES on this one study, and still
they've got this one guy on TV continuing to say, "Owls hunt by
echolocation."
It can cause a scientist to feel despair. If no one cares or knows, what
the heck are we doing, learning and growing and exploring and finding
out? Are we ONLY doing it cuz it's fun? I DO admit that I think it 's
great fun to study wild owls and
and..
and..
please listen closely:
I HAVE STUDIED ALMOST A HUNDRED WILD OWL NESTS PERSONALLY IN MY TEENY
TINY PATHETIC LITTLE LIFE and I'm NOBODY compared w/ my mentor and all
these heavy duty people like my mentor at Caltech.
So can we stop with the "she's only worked w/ captive owls" routine? I
mean, for my own self, I don't have a deep need for anyone to know this,
but when it's said to discredit what I've been so diligently trying to
say, by way of educating people about these precious, sentient,
passionate, sassy, lovely creatures called barn owls...then I do care
that you know.
And I'm a DROP IN THE BUCKET OF THE SCIENTISTS WHO HAVE STUDIED WILD
W-I-L-D WILD BARN OWLS.
People have said to me, "Don't be bothered w/ doing a public book or
trying to explain. They're not scientists. It's hopeless. It's a losing
battle.
Some wildlife experts and scientists and biologists have said, "There's
nothing you can do. There's no hope. These people are so ignorant and
they don't want to know the truth."
I MUST disagree.
When I go do these events, I meet SO MANY people who DO want to learn,
to know, to understand, to find out.
And then they get shut down by someone who is threatened, apparently, by
anyone having knowledge beyond his own.
But no one can be EVERYTHING, so there are experts in different
subjects. That's the beauty of diversity of knowledge and talent among
us humans. We can spread out and become experts in different things and
then offer our expertise to each other!
Well, hey! What a great idea!
If you wanted to have a house built but knew nothing about building,
would you not consult an expert?
So why is it so THREATENING, So ODIOUS, so PAINFUL for a person to
simply consult an EXPERT about these owls? WHY? WHY? WHY?
I'm not a psychologist so I won't pretend to even begin to know why not.
No one associated with these owls has ever tried to contact me about any
of this, nor have they tried to contact Nancy Connie at Skyhunters who
is a font of wisdom and practical knowledge about WILD...yes WILD
W.I.L.D BARN OWLS and other raptors.
I've seen this woman single handedly save a golden eagle from certain
death and seen many many many other examples of her blinding expertise.
But if you have a huge bottle of water and you take it out on a trip
through the desert, and you keep saying, "I'm fine because I have this
huge bottle of water...and slowly you become more and more thirsty and
lose strength until you are fainting, but you say to yourself, "It's ok!
I have a huge bottle of water with me!" and on you walk until you are
stumbling and delirious and falling to the ground and you die saying,
"It's ok, I have with me a huge bottle of water"....what is the use of
having the huge bottle of water nearby unless you OPEN THE BOTTLE AND
DRINK FROM IT?
So is this situation.
You have a huge font of knowledge and practical experience available to
you, waiting w/ beepers ready to be summoned to help, but you refuse to
avail yourself of it, what use is it? What use is all the wisdom in the
world if you do not heed it?
All wisdom is as nothing to he who does not heed it.
I do ask that the slander stop. When you say "Scientists have never
studied wild owls, therefore they have no knowledge" and label anyone
with wisdom and practical knowledge as a "worry wart", you are
committing slander.
MY WORST FEAR in all of this is that the owlets will fall and be injured
and instead of asking for help, because of ego, the owlet will be killed
and we will all be told that, contrary to what ALL THESE SCIENTISTS who
have SPENT THEIR ENTIRE LIVES STUDYING WILD OWLS HAVE SEEN IN EVERY
SINGLE CASE....this PARTICULAR owlet just flew away all on his own.
If that happens, KNOW THIS! The owlet died or was injured and ego
prevented anyone from helping it.
I AM happy that there's now a platform there but it is not what experts
suggest. Would it be so painful to ask any real experts!
See.. when you're hocking a "become an instant millionaire! Live your
dream by buying my book about flipping houses" program, you can bs your
way through and make stuff up as you go along (This is what Carlos'
"other book" is all about and "other websites").
You cannot b.s. in science.
You cannot BS your way through this one.
I might take this post down. I dunno. I've never had to get this direct
before.
sigh.
It's kind of an age old problem for biologists. You start out just
wanting to study your animals and enjoy the beauty of it all, but then
you see how the animals are being abused, endangered, misused,
exploited, and you have to make a decision whether or not to just stay
completely out of it, or become more of an activist, or what.
I really don't think I can become an activist AND be an author, because
of my health.
So I've tried to stay out of that part of things in the sense that I
have not gone to try to have the laws changed regarding owl boxes, etc.
But please stop saying that we scientists don't know anything about wild
owls and have not worked with wild owls, ok?
Thanks!
:-)
Glad we settled that!
Peace and joy,
Stacey
You know, the fascinating thing for me is the juxtaposition of the
behavior of the owls on the left side of the screen with the behavior of
the humans on the right side of the screen. Now THAT, my friends, is
going to make a great chapter in the new book. ;-) OOPS! Too late! It
already has. ;-)
Posted by Stacey O'Brien at 7:18 PM
<http://wesleytheowl.blogspot.com/2010/05/why-most-scientists-refuse-to-be.html>
19 comments
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Labels: Copyright 2010 Stacey O'Brien
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Saturday, May 1, 2010
I have not been banned, + posting a comment from a reader
<http://wesleytheowl.blogspot.com/2010/05/i-have-not-been-banned-posting-comment.html>
Rumors of my having been banned, are, at this point in time, totally
FALSE. I was on the chat earlier this morning and enjoyed chatting with
everyone. Sometimes I end up in overflow, which is also fine. I'm not picky!
Calls for Nancy and me to get involved are appreciated but what are we
to do? Nancy is totally inundated with...drum roll....injured baby barn
owls...and other spring babies, as are most wildlife people. I am trying
to get another book written and also go out on the road..and trying to
get the truth about my beloved barn owls out there for the rest of the
community to have the knowledge and passion that can ultimately help
barn owls.
It's true that unscrupulous people make a living putting up bogus owl
boxes, charging people a lot of money for them, and that there is no
law, currently, against that. What I hope is that with all the publicity
Carlos has helped to give to barn owls both through his awesome views of
these owls w/ the better cameras and quality photography, but also
through his own experience of having innocently hired an unscrupulous
"owl box professional", he is giving everyone a "birds eye view" into
the bigger problem of what has been going on in San Diego and other
areas for decades. This is the duping of innocent nature lovers who
truly want to give a home to owls and enjoy the years of successful
raising of babies in a backyard habitat, with the outcome instead being
tragedy.
The promise of these "professional owl box people" is "Guaranteed rodent
control". But these boxes have been put up in places where there is no
hunting grounds such as places like Leisure World, and of course, with
no thought to fledging issues or the hot sun. If barn owls do nest
there, yes, they will frantically hunt all night for rodents to FEED
THEIR BABIES, but the babies will die when they fledge. The owls will
keep trying over and over again, yes, controlling rodents by feeding
each new clutch of babies, only to have the babies fall to the ground to
be eaten by dogs or other predators or die slowly, OR to be rescued and
taken to wildlife centers.
I want to emphasize that Carlos is on this road of discovery and is
learning all this in real time and it's a lot to take in! I MUST credit
him with being possibly the ONLY person I know of who has actually tried
to do something about it!!!!
I saw the platform he put up and I must applaud it! It sure beats the
heck out of what wasn't there before! And the two ladders might also be
possible branching spots, especially if he were to cover one of those
slanted ladder 'legs' with astroturf or something the babies could hook
their claws into without getting them stuck. Indoor outdoor carpet?
If he were to call Nancy at Skyhunters, I think she'd be happy to help.
These people are not hostile to Carlos, they are mad at the people who
take advantage of good people like Carlos!
Do you think Carlos intended to have a problematic owl box and then put
that out on the ustream for everyone to watch? NO! He did that in all
innocence. He wanted to provide genuine habitat for owls and for his
grandchildren to be able to enjoy the experience of watching their
growth and success.
So I applaud his efforts to give the babies a chance to 'branch' before
they 'fledge' This is a UK term, I think, and it's better than trying to
describe all the stages of learning to fly as "fledging" as if it were a
one time event (the way it is for some birds)..
With that said, I am putting up one of the comments from a reader of the
blog. It's true the UK is WAAAAY ahead of us in terms of regulating owl
boxes. America is still the "wild west" in so many ways. That's good in
one sense - anyone can start up almost any kind of company. But it can
be a bad thing when people jump on the "green" or "habitat" or
"conservation" bandwagon with disingenuous intent (and I'm NOT talking
about Carlos, who I think has good intentions for these owls).
I applaud Carlos for putting up the plaltform for the owls to fledge to,
and think that if the ladders were less slippery, they would be part of
a good system, too.
I still think Carlos may be well positioned to be THE guy to do the
research and come up with a truly useful barn owl box that serves the
owls, and to have those installed nationwide rather than these horrible
death traps that are being pushed upon the unknowing but trusting
public. I hope Carlos will do this and perhaps advocate for a system
such as the british owl box system.
There do need to be laws about this. The problem is that wildlife people
are not political, usually. They are so inundated w/ the work of saving
those they can save. And academics truly want nothing to do w/ "the
public", myself being an exception to the rule. I hate the ivory tower
mentality.
So....it's up to people like you, dear readers, and Carlos, and all
those who've paid good money for a death trap, to unite and make a
difference in how this is done nationwide or at least locally.
This is how we grow as a people. We discover that something we're doing
isn't so great. Remember, we used to have slavery, child labor, no vote
for women....all of those things are now gone because we have slowly
realized as a people that they were wrong, and someone went out and did
something about it. (We do have unsanctioned slavery and human
trafficking, but that's also being brought to the fore and outraged
people are doing something about it).
This is what ultimately makes this country great, I think. We do correct
what's wrong, we are mostly sincere people trying to do the right thing.
Carlos' story of how all of this came about and he found himself in the
middle of a maelstrom of contraversy over these boxes is something he
could share and could use to advocate for a groundbreaking and massively
new approach with the way owls and even other birds are being exploited
by the ignorant and unscrupulous.
If Carlos came up with a better system, or designed boxes based on the
british system, HE could have a company that puts in owlboxes that are
successful, humane, and good for the owls in the long run. Why couldn't
HE be the one w/ a company, one that does it right? He is a businessman
after all, and he's also proved to be an excellent communicator.
Anyway, heres' the post from the reader - I do see hope with these new
developments!
By the way, please keep putting in your comments! It helps me know what
you're all thinking about!
-Stacey
PS: To address the question of why owls would even choose such an
unsatisfactory habitat for fledging, we must remember that over the past
150 million years or so, all they had to find was a good hole, up high,
with reasonable protection from weather and predators. Those holes were
only found in hollow trees which already had branches galore and a trunk
for climbing up. So they did not evolve to "look for" branches. They
evolved to look for a hole, peer into it, and find a cavity inside. The
rest was obvious, since there had been no industrial revolution, no
massive development encroaching on their territories, etc. So the owls
cannot keep up with what man has done to lure them in. They find a hole,
peer in, and WOW there's a nice cavity. Time to make a nest! It would
take millions of years, perhaps, for them to 'adapt' to these yucky
boxes on poles, and develop a whole new way of learning to fly. At this
point, we can't change the owls...
=----------------------------------Comment from a reader of the blog
---------------------
http://www.barnowltrust.org.uk/popup_slide.html?Id=98
http://www.barnowltrust.org.uk/infopage.html?Id=41
Hi Stacey, Its Lynn (lynndw4771). I had these links brought to my
attention and this shows pretty much exactly what you've been talking
about. That having these owl boxes is not what wild barn owls have been
used to and is not their natural habitat by any means... When it comes
to fledging, barn owls must first ' branch' which is something that
other wild songbirds do not do! I was someone in a chatroom last night
say that IF an owlet tumbled out the owl box door, and over the edge, it
would be no big deal, because they have the instinct to flap their wings
up and down until they come to a soft landing. ( WOW! Are they mis-led
by someone!) If everyone could see the 2 sites that I have given you
above, they would ( or at least SHOULD) totally understand those that
are concerned by this type of a box that is being sold in CA for barn owls.
Again, no one is trying to tear anyone down or make anyone look bad, but
just to get info out there to share what is needed when you want the
best in safety for these new little owls.
In the UK, they have already gone through THIS stage of 'unfortunate &
sad' learning & by that have come up with a design to help them be as
safe as if they were in a tree or flat loft where they would have room
to branch..hop, flap wings, back and forth til they learn to support
their weight, which they don't know how to do when they first start
trying it.
You will see in these plans on this link, they tell to have the entrance
hole into the nest at least 10 inches, I think it was..or higher from
the bottom of the nest, and then some small peg/perch-type protrusions
up to the hole , where they learn hopping and flapping their wings
INSIDE of the box before they get near an edge that is high up.. IN a
tree..if they did it at a place too high for them, the branches
underneath them who 'catch' them..not so with an owl box on a pole.
With this design box mentioned in the above link, they would NOT get out
of the entrance/exit hole until they had already 'practiced hopping up
on small protrusions and flapping wings and back down.. once their wings
are stronger, then they can reach the hole to jump out, etc.. ALSO..once
they get to THAT point..there needs to be a large enough 'trunk' at
ground level, for them to climb back up it to the box to get back in!
Well... watching the links says it all..
and these guys have learned it by the poor owlets that have fallen from
the straight pole w/ the hole easy for them to get out of, and then no
way to climb back up to the safety of their nest.
Hope this helps in your endeavors and helps those who want to have
things done right for these sweet wild creatures.
Lynndw4771
Posted by Stacey O'Brien at 12:34 AM
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34 comments
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Labels: Copyright 2010 Stacey O'Brien
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Tuesday, April 27, 2010
I'm out of town, sorry no blog until tomorrow afternoon..
<http://wesleytheowl.blogspot.com/2010/04/im-out-of-town-sorry-no-blog-until.html>
Hi all!
I'm in a remote location w/ no internet. I came into Julian to quickly
write to you all that I've been resting. I had allowed myself to become
too exhausted, and as you know, I have to monitor my health very
carefully. So I've had no access to the internet and have not followed
events.
But I just read some comments and I must say that I've heard many
references to how we scientists do not or have not done our work w/
"Wild owls" and that it's somehow groundbreaking to be watching "wild
owls".
This is ludicrous and almost does not bear defending. Who thought up the
whole idea of putting cameras in the nests of wild owls? Scientists have
been doing it since cameras were invented.
And we have been watching wild owls and compiling data and deep
understanding for ages and ages.
The problem w/ looking at other owl boxes in San Diego is that there is
a group here that makes a huge profit on putting up owl boxes in the
most ridiculous places like suburban areas, w/ a "guarantee" that there
will be no more rodents. The entire wildlife community has been in an
uproar about this for years because it's purely for profit and there is
no accountability to the way the owls end up dying in the end when they
fledge. By then, the homeowner who had the box "professionally"
installed is out their 500 dollars. Or 900 if they had a camera put in.
Just because someone makes a living at putting up owlboxes, does NOT
mean they're an expert! Yes the feds are very aware of this and trying
to decide what to do. They have not run up against this kind of for
profit problem in the past and it's a problem that, believe me, is being
hotly discussed behind closed doors among regulators!
in the meantime, Carlos has fallen prey to one of these companies, I'm
told by people in the know. And he is in the unique position to remedy
the sitaution.
I'm sure that Skyhunters, 619-445-6565 would be happy to help w/ the
perch situation. Perches are not TOYS. They are what tree limbs are for.
A box on a pole ia not a natural environment and owls are not able to
think ahead to the fledging process because it would not be natural to
find such perfect nesting spot unless it were in a tree, for the last
several million years.
I don't know about the rest cuz I didn't hear what Carlos said so I'll
leave that to whoever did hear it.
I'll be back tomorrow w/ a real post. Please make sure to keep agitating
for the right thing to be done!
Stacey
Posted by Stacey O'Brien at 5:14 PM
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Friday, April 23, 2010
The death of 2 of Owlivia's babies
<http://wesleytheowl.blogspot.com/2010/04/death-of-2-of-owlivias-babies.html>
I am grieving along with everyone else about the death of these two
precious little ones. Many people have asked for my opinion and here it is :
It's possible the two littlest ones were not getting enough to eat.
Owlivia and Owliver were not bringing in as much prey as Molly and
McGee, and they had one more baby to feed. If there isn't quite enough
food, the littlest ones do weaken and die. The food is not distributed
equally, as the first born and strongest baby is the most aggressive and
gets the majority of the food, the second born is the second largest and
therefore second most aggressive and gets the second largest portion and
on down. If hunting is excellent, they all eat their fill. But if it's
not excellent, the smallest and least aggressive babies get the smallest
amount to eat, or nothing at all.
Without a necropsy, we won't know what really happened and can only
speculate, but this is one of the main possibilities.
The other main possibility is the number one killer of owls, which is
rodent poison. People put out poison for rodents, the rodents eat it,
and then they go around with the poison in their systems for a little
while before they die. During this time they are very easy to catch
because of the effect of the poison. They are not surviving and running
from predators, they are dying. So they're super attractive to a
predator as an easy meal. So the predator catches and eats the poisoned
rodent, and feeds it to the babies, and dies. Or the babies die.
It's possible that one of the prey items brought in was carrying poison
and that the poison got fed to those two babies. I was worried that if
this was the case, all the babies would die or the mother would
die...ARG! I didn't sleep well last night. I'm sure a lot of people didn't!
But here we are 24 hours later and no one else has died. This is
excellent news!
I'm not in touch w/ the people who have the owlbox, but I heard they
were working w/ wildlife experts from project wildlife. If so, maybe
they removed the items in the pantry just in case they were poisoned. I
don't know.
I don't even know if it was poison.
Still, it really brings the point home about how delicate the food chain
is, and how when we mess with it, we affect not just the rodents (in
this case) but every animal that might eat that rodent. And this during
nesting season, in the spring! It should be against the law.
Maybe this episode has made people more aware of the consequences of
putting out poison.
I have friends who live out in the country in a very porous house, who
are inundated w/ mice every year. So they put in those mouse traps that
catch the mice, flip them unhurt into a holding area, then catch the
next mouse, etc. By morning there might be 30 mice in the trap. Then my
friends take the trap and drive out further into the country and let the
mice go in a field where they can feed the wildlife instead of just
dying in their house.
They do this every morning and they feel good about it and there are no
poisons in their house.
They also have some excellent mouser cats in the house and barn who
thrive on all those mice. It's a win win situation. People have managed
to live for thousands of years with mice and have still managed to bring
in crops, store crops...mostly...and haven't had to poison the world
around them to do so. We can certainly do the same. Or are we more
stupid than our ancestors?
I think we're more impatient than our ancestors and have developed a
sense of entitlement that says, " I should not have to deal with any
inconvenience whatsoever, so if that means poisoning the environment for
my immediate gratification, then so be it, because there is nothing in
this earth more important than my immediate and personal gratification."
haha. I hope we haven't gone that far!
I do passionately hope that this will bring more awareness and help
people to care!
In the meantime, I do grieve for those precious baby owls and hope and
pray that the rest of the owls we've come to love will thrive in
excellent health and go on to live long, happy lives!
Stacey
Posted by Stacey O'Brien at 9:42 PM
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YES! Carlos is looking into how to put up a fledging area!
<http://wesleytheowl.blogspot.com/2010/04/yes-carlos-is-looking-into-how-to-put.html>
I just read the comment section from the last post, and am told that
Carlos' wife, Donna, has been reading the blog! WOW! HI Donna!
And I've been told that Carlos is going to install a perch system for
the owlets to fledge to. This would be groundbreaking and might change
the way people install owl boxes! I'm thrilled.
I was also given other links to other pictures of the box. It's true
there are trees, but they are too low, in my humble opinion.
Here is the link and part of one reader's comments:
------------------
ou can see the layout of the new fence, the owlbox, the nearby tree, and
the now 2 ladders (one of which the parent owls are using as a perch) in
this video news story by cbs8:
"Owl Cam fans frantic because Molly is Missing"
http://www.cbs8.com/Global/story.asp?S=12338394
If you go forward to time 1:42 of 3:22 in the video - and pause it -
you'll get a better sense of the Fledging area. The owlets may enjoy the
new fence and the ladders.
-------------------
I do agree that they will probably use the new fence and the ladders in
their flight training. But they also need something higher up.
So I'm very glad to hear that Carlos is going to build some fledging
areas! This is awesome news! I had no idea they were even reading the
blog, but I did know that they are out consulting w/ experts because he
said he'd been surveying parks and habitats and working on the idea of
putting up boxes all over, to provide homes for not only owls, but other
birds. So I figured he'd be on a high learning curve with this, which,
by the way, is a lot more than most people would ever do after having an
owlbox put up in their yard. I admire Carlos' drive to learn and explore
and grow.
As a side effect of this, it keeps a person young to always be involved
in new adventures.
I do think that he ought to consult with wildlife experts on this one,
since he's going to have to do some constructing while the owls are in
the nest.
I know that wildlife people are quite eager to help, and that wildlife
centers have a lot of experience constructing their own flight areas. I
would urge him to bring in someone like that - who actually has built
wildlife center flight cages for rehabilitating baby owls.
I'm picturing a structure, maybe in a sort of triangle, for support,
that he could build elsewhere then roll up to the site and slip off of
the wheels to leave it there. That way he wouldn't have to be
constructing right next to the box.
What I've seen is what I described before, with some 2/4s covered w/
astroturf, parallel to and at the same height as the box opening - right
across from the door so they can hop out the door onto the perch, about
3 feet away from the door.
They do also need a piece to climb up for when they take test flights
and those flights end on the ground. At first they won't be flying, but
will be just hopping w/ lots of flapping. But eventually they'll go on
longer flights that end on the ground, and will need to climb back up.
I've seen where people have taken a long tree branch and put that at an
angle from ground to perch, and secured to the perch.
I think this structure could be portable yet sturdy if he used a
triangular base somehow.
I'm not an architect, nor have I ever built a perching system out in the
open. What people in wildlife centers do is run the 2x4s across from
wall to wall, so it's easier for them to make the setup.
BUT, I also know people who've been doing this for 25 years or more and
would be more than happy to advise him, because truly they are more
interested in seeing owls thrive in the wild than they are in having to
take in yet another clutch of baby barn owls or any other baby animals.
Baby season is a nightmare in wildlife centers. It SOUNDS fun but it's
just so crazy and so frantic that there's no time to enjoy the babies
themselves. It's a race for survival that leaves everyone feeling like
they've just been in a kind of war zone.
So they would love to see the public getting involved in preventing
having to take babies to wildlife centers!
I would bet, though I haven't asked her directly, that the director of
Skyhunters would be more than eager to help. She has a network of people
all over San Diego, in Valley Center and the areas of N. County, who are
long time experts, who know who to go to for solving these construction
issues and conundrums. And believe me, everyone who works w/ wild
creatures has these kinds of issues to worry about.
How do you enclose coyotes, for example? They'll dig right under a
fence. Well, I recently visited a wildlife center in the NW that digss 6
feet down all the way around the fence and sinks a chain link fence 6
feet into the ground, going up to 10 or more above the ground, and
bending inward at the top cuz coyotes can even climb some fences.
I'd bet you that the first time wildlife centers started working w/
coyotes, they didnt' know this and had all kinds of premature escapes!
So we all learn by doing or by consulting w/ someone else who has
learned by doing.
Perhaps this will lead to a new design in owl boxes which includes a
branch to fledge to and one to climb up, as one commenter pointed out.
Now, in response to the reader who said I shouldn't talk about
"negative" or "upsetting" possiblities, i really do not have a
perspective that says, "Oh this is upsetting" Or "this is not upsetting"
in the sense that for me, learning and understanding what IS, is what I
care about most passionately.
When you're in a biology class, you don't learn only happy thoughts. You
are learning about how organisms survive. By what mechanism do they
handle the problems that come up, so that they survive to carry on their
genes through their progeny?
Those solutions can be physiological: The liver and kidneys and
intestines must handle toxins that are the result of metabolism, or the
system will poison itself, for example. Do we not discuss the poisonous
results of metabolism because it's negative to say that the result of
our metabolic process is urea and ammonia and other substances that
would be toxic if left to build up in our bloodsream? It has never even
crossed my mind that it's negative! It is just what IS. And our bodies
are set up to handle those toxins and excrete them. I've taken whole
units on how different organisms excrete toxins - from fish and their
gills and all those systems, to worms, to every imagineable creature and
how he/she handles the toxic output of metabolism.
How does the skeleton balance and handle load? We talk about the forces
that the skeleton must be prepared to withstand in terms of pounds per
square inch, such as when a large cat leaps down off a tree branch. How
do the muscles and skeleton absorb the shock? Do we decide that
discussing the "shock" is kinda too tough to talk about?
To me, the miracle is that these problems are solved at all!
And to me, there is no difference between discussing the problems
organisms face internally and the issues they must solve externally.
Birds must solve the problem of having to learn to use their wings. And
it's a learning process for them. They aren't born knowing how those
wings work, and it's very awkward for them to learn. It's especially
awkward, in my humble opinion, for owls.
But if you haven't spent your life studying owls or watching them
fledge, how would you know the exact mechanism by which they fledge? You
wouldn't. You would probably think they fledge just like the sparrows in
your backyard, who tumble to the ground unhurt, hide in a bush, and take
little hoppy flights along the ground. Sparrows are tiny and light and
this works for them.
Owls are awkward during adolescence and they just act more like
dinosaurs trying to learn to fly. They don't hop lightly on the ground,
they gallumph along on the ground when they're on it. They have big
heads and big talons and there's just an awful lot to coordinate.
Once they do figure it out, they are poetry in motion. Absolute beauty
and wisdom in the sky.
But they have to get from here to there.
So when I discuss the problems they might face, I really see them not so
much as problems, but as challenges. And, since I know how they usually
handle those challenges, I would love to see us humans offering them the
kind of habitat that allows them to overcome those challenges in the
manner to which they've adapted over the millions of years.
So to me, that's a very positive thing. If we come out of this having
learned a new way to set up owlboxes in a way that does a lot more to
ensure the ultimate success of the clutch, then huge progress has been
done.
Carlos may end up being the one who sets up a groudbreaking new approach
to owlboxes. Because many companies that put up owlboxes do not do
anything to consider the actual owls themselves and how they fledge, etc
They just put an owlbox on a stick and leave it at that.
The point made that owls are not adapted to living in owlboxes was well
put. They are hardwired to search for nice sized hollow spots, because
until recently in history, those spots were in hollow trees.
As we've pointed out before, there are many owl species that do not
adapt to change and who are decimated by what we might think of as small
changes in their habitat - like the spotted owl. The spotted owl must
have a very intricate set of factors, all present together, to survive.
Take away one of those factors, and the owl cannot breed or nest. That's
why they're so endangered.
But with the lovely barn owl, we do have a good chance to provide them
with alternative habitats like the owl boxes, and to ensure a good
fledge, so that they will not become endangered as long as there are
unpoisoned rodents for them to eat! That's GOOD news, not bad news!
Well, that's it for now. I've got to get ready for tomorrow, when I'm
going to meet several of you in Julian! I can't wait to meet you. PLEASE
introduce yourselves and tell me you read the blog or that you know me
from the owl box so I know who I'm meeting! This will be fun.
I talked to people in Julian today and they said there's snow on the
ground but that it has melted enough so that the roads are clear and you
don't need chains. I'm taking chains just in case it changes, but they
say it's just beautiful up there, but dress warmly. I dress in layers in
that kind of cold because I often get too hot indoors when it's cold
outside.
See some of you tomorrow!
-Stacey
Posted by Stacey O'Brien at 9:27 PM
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Thursday, April 22, 2010
Why I'm optimistic that Carlos will install a perch for the babies
to fledge to...
<http://wesleytheowl.blogspot.com/2010/04/why-im-optimistic-that-carlos-will.html>
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Clearly, there is NOTHING for the owlets to jump to. There needs to be a
substantial branch within 3 feet of the door of the perch, at the same
HEIGHT of the door of the box. This is not the case, yet. Yes, I'm
concerned, but I do think Carlos is honestly trying to learn, and that
he is becoming educated as he goes along.
It's not Carlos' fault that the box is not installed correctly. He hired
a "professional" who should have had the sense to put the box 1) in a
tree or at least within the shade of a tree, and 2) in a position such
that there are multiple branches parallel to the box's door, for the
owls to fly to.
Since Carlos intends to install boxes all over the county in parks and
nature areas, he is very interested in learning the right ways to do
these things. He just hasn't had the right people involved with putting
the box up.
There are people who go into business doing owl boxes as a method of
rodent control, who don't know what they're doing, or don't care. I know
nothing about the details of how this box got where it got, other than
that he did hire a local professional.
But since then, he's been seeking to learn more, so I am very optimistic
that he will install some kind of branch, about 3 feet in front of the
door, at the same height as the door, very soon. The babies won't fledge
until May 14 at the earliest (now watch, I'll be "wrong" and people will
say I don't know what I'm doing. haha. Ok so I'll say that in most
cases, that would be the target date, but that these guys might fledge
early. How's that? lol).
He did say he's been going to parks and looking at other situations. He
could go to any raptor center and see the way they put in these perches.
Here's how: They put up a long 2x4 for the owls to land on, wrapped with
astroturf (the 2x4, not the owls). They secure the astroturf so it
doesn't slide around. This gives the owls a way to grip onto the perch.
He'd have to construct something to hold the perch up and brace it, but
I'm sure there are lots of people who know how to do this kind of thing.
He could make a call to skyhunters and ask them to consult, for example.
Skyhunters is involved with building flight cages for eagles, even, and
with putting caps on live electrical wires all over San Diego, to
prevent birds from being electrocuted. I'm sure they could refer him to
the right people who'd be very happy to build a proper fledging setup
around his box - without even disturbing the owls.
Carlos is good at learning new businesses and skills - if you've looked
at his other webpages, he's got amazing photography of butterflies,
flowers, cityscapes like towns in England and all over America, he's
learned the real estate investment business and has written a book about
how to become a millioinaire through real estate, he's a landlord of god
knows how many properties, he was in the navy - in other words he's a
very well rounded guy who has learned a huge variety of skills, so he
can easily learn about owl habitats.
And a proper barn owl habitat includes somewhere to fledge!
This is why I'm optimistic.
We can see from the picture that, right now, there is no adequate place
to fly to. The box stands alone far above any trees, and even the trees
that are there do not have adequate perching areas.
He will figure all this out. If anyone can figure it out, he can!
Everyone has to go through a learning curve in every new area of life.
It's normal, and it keeps a person young to keep learning new things. I
don't criticize people for not automatically knowing about every
possible subject on this earth - it's not possible to do so.
I applaud those who undertake new projects and are open to learning, and
who open themselves up to experts and ask questions, who are willing to
continue to learn and adapt and grow.
This is one of those situations, and I think Carlos is very serious
about learning everything he can about this. So....he will install
proper perches, I'm sure, in time for the babies to fledge.
I'm sure he does not want this very public journey to end in disaster,
especially with so many schoolchildren inovlved.
I remember a case in which schoolchildren were very involved in watching
the rehabilitation of a baby seal who had been found starving on the
beach. He was nursed back to health and the kids followed his progress
every step of the way.
Finally the big day came for the release of the seal. Some classes
actually went out to watch, while others were able to see the action on
some kind of closed circuit TV setup. The seal was released with great
fanfare. Less than a minute later, a killer whale rose up and ate the
seal. What a disaster! Horrors! Those poor kids!
I'm sure Carlos is not going to let something like that happen. He cares
about this little owl family just like we all do. One can't help but
fall in love with these little characters, and with the beautiful Molly
and McGee!
-Stacey
PS: I'm not writing this so that people will become frantic! I'm writing
this because I think that, even though the box is not properly installed
at the moment, I think it will be remedied well in time for the
fledging. So, please refrain from hysteria. I personally doubt that
people are that hysterical, but I keep being told that they are and that
I should only say happy happy things. I think this IS a happy thing -
these owls have so many people who care about their welfare that they
can't help but be well accomodated and cared for! So be happy.
NOW!...SMILE! or else! ;-)
Posted by Stacey O'Brien at 10:47 AM
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+ Why Most Scientists Refuse to Be Bothered.... or.....
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+ I'm out of town, sorry no blog until tomorrow afte...
<http://wesleytheowl.blogspot.com/2010/04/im-out-of-town-sorry-no-blog-until.html>
+ The death of 2 of Owlivia's babies
<http://wesleytheowl.blogspot.com/2010/04/death-of-2-of-owlivias-babies.html>
+ YES! Carlos is looking into how to put up a fledgi...
<http://wesleytheowl.blogspot.com/2010/04/yes-carlos-is-looking-into-how-to-put.html>
+ Why I'm optimistic that Carlos will install a perc...
<http://wesleytheowl.blogspot.com/2010/04/why-im-optimistic-that-carlos-will.html>
+ Is the owl box next to tree branches to which the ...
<http://wesleytheowl.blogspot.com/2010/04/is-owl-box-next-to-tree-branches-to.html>
+ Were people overreacting when they ask about Wesle...
<http://wesleytheowl.blogspot.com/2010/04/were-people-overreacting-when-they-ask.html>
+ Bellingham, WA Event! Details as promised!
<http://wesleytheowl.blogspot.com/2010/04/bellingham-wa-event-details-as-promised.html>
+ Additional comments about baby Wesley
<http://wesleytheowl.blogspot.com/2010/04/additional-comments-about-baby-wesley.html>
+ Why Baby Wesley should be ok.
<http://wesleytheowl.blogspot.com/2010/04/why-baby-wesley-should-be-ok.html>
+ A list of my current favorite books, as promised
<http://wesleytheowl.blogspot.com/2010/04/list-of-my-current-favorite-books-as.html>
+ The Big Molly Scare
<http://wesleytheowl.blogspot.com/2010/04/big-molly-scare.html>
+ Is Molly trying to teach the babies "independence"...
<http://wesleytheowl.blogspot.com/2010/04/is-molly-trying-to-teach-babies.html>
+ Is the patio enough? Question from a reader.
<http://wesleytheowl.blogspot.com/2010/04/is-patio-enough-question-from-reader.html>
+ Answering a quick question - Does a male stop hunt...
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+ Bonding and Mating - Are they the same? + more co...
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+ I just realized I can answer comments in the comme...
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+ An answer in Spanish to Eva
<http://wesleytheowl.blogspot.com/2010/04/answer-in-spanish-to-eva.html>
+ Thank you! Also a health update for those of you w...
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+ Is anyone out there? HeloOOOOOO???; also, upcoming...
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+ Crows and Ravens: The Corvids and their odd behavi...
<http://wesleytheowl.blogspot.com/2010/04/crows-and-ravens-corvids-and-their-odd.html>
+ Pics of Wesley bathing, and at different ages on w...
<http://wesleytheowl.blogspot.com/2010/04/pics-of-wesley-bathing-and-at-different.html>
+ My website
<http://wesleytheowl.blogspot.com/2010/04/my-website.html>
+ To bathe or not to bathe; to hunt or not to hunt; ...
<http://wesleytheowl.blogspot.com/2010/04/to-bathe-or-not-to-bathe-to-hunt-or-not.html>
+ Details about Julian event on April 24th!
<http://wesleytheowl.blogspot.com/2010/04/details-about-julian-event-on-april.html>
+ Response to comments and questions:
<http://wesleytheowl.blogspot.com/2010/04/response-to-comments-and-questions.html>
+ My publisher, + response to comments
<http://wesleytheowl.blogspot.com/2010/04/my-publisher-response-to-comments.html>
+ Question for readers: Are these blog entries too l...
<http://wesleytheowl.blogspot.com/2010/04/question-for-readers-are-these-blog.html>
+ Science vs. polite society or "What is going on he...
<http://wesleytheowl.blogspot.com/2010/04/science-vs-polite-society-or-what-is.html>
+ Owls ARE dinosaurs... + discussion of bonding and ...
<http://wesleytheowl.blogspot.com/2010/04/owls-are-dinosaurs-discussion-of.html>
+ A quick note about languages other than English:
<http://wesleytheowl.blogspot.com/2010/04/quick-note-about-languages-other-than.html>
+ The threat incident w/ Molly and the clicking soun...
<http://wesleytheowl.blogspot.com/2010/04/threat-incident-w-molly-and-clicking.html>
+ Answers to questions in last group of comments:
<http://wesleytheowl.blogspot.com/2010/04/answers-to-questions-in-last-group-of.html>
+ Response to questions in comment section
<http://wesleytheowl.blogspot.com/2010/04/response-to-questions-in-comment.html>
+ Molly the Barn Owl - comments on events of late Ma...
<http://wesleytheowl.blogspot.com/2010/04/molly-barn-owl-comments-on-events-of.html>
o â–º <javascript:void(0)> March
<http://wesleytheowl.blogspot.com/2010_03_01_archive.html> (1)
+ I'll be at the Tucson Book Fair this weekend!
<http://wesleytheowl.blogspot.com/2010/03/ill-be-at-tucson-book-fair-this-weekend.html>
o â–º <javascript:void(0)> February
<http://wesleytheowl.blogspot.com/2010_02_01_archive.html> (1)
+ Today is Wesley's Hatch Day!
<http://wesleytheowl.blogspot.com/2010/02/today-is-wesleys-hatch-day.html>
o â–º <javascript:void(0)> January
<http://wesleytheowl.blogspot.com/2010_01_01_archive.html> (4)
+ HAMSTERS
<http://wesleytheowl.blogspot.com/2010/01/hamsters.html>
+ my email address + want input from readers about n...
<http://wesleytheowl.blogspot.com/2010/01/my-email-address-want-input-from.html>
+ Belgium readers - need info from you!
<http://wesleytheowl.blogspot.com/2010/01/belgium-readers-need-info-from-you.html>
+ Hamster Miracle!
<http://wesleytheowl.blogspot.com/2010/01/hamster-miracle.html>
* â–º <javascript:void(0)> 2009
<http://wesleytheowl.blogspot.com/search?updated-min=2009-01-01T00%3A00%3A00-08%3A00&updated-max=2010-01-01T00%3A00%3A00-08%3A00&max-results=34>
(34)
o â–º <javascript:void(0)> December
<http://wesleytheowl.blogspot.com/2009_12_01_archive.html> (6)
+ Asking for information about your local wildlife
<http://wesleytheowl.blogspot.com/2009/12/asking-for-information-about-your-local.html>
+ Can Dogs Read?
<http://wesleytheowl.blogspot.com/2009/12/can-dogs-read.html>
+ I apologize for neglecting the blog!
<http://wesleytheowl.blogspot.com/2009/12/i-apologize-for-neglecting-blog.html>
+ A bit of a rambling post
<http://wesleytheowl.blogspot.com/2009/12/bit-of-rambling-post.html>
+ Missing Hamster
<http://wesleytheowl.blogspot.com/2009/12/missing-hamster.html>
+ Merry Christmas and Holidays to all!
<http://wesleytheowl.blogspot.com/2009/12/merry-christmas-and-holidays-to-all.html>
o â–º <javascript:void(0)> September
<http://wesleytheowl.blogspot.com/2009_09_01_archive.html> (3)
+ My trip to JPL and Caltech
<http://wesleytheowl.blogspot.com/2009/09/my-trip-to-jpl-and-caltech.html>
o â–º <javascript:void(0)> August
<http://wesleytheowl.blogspot.com/2009_08_01_archive.html> (3)
o â–º <javascript:void(0)> July
<http://wesleytheowl.blogspot.com/2009_07_01_archive.html> (5)
o â–º <javascript:void(0)> June
<http://wesleytheowl.blogspot.com/2009_06_01_archive.html> (3)
o â–º <javascript:void(0)> May
<http://wesleytheowl.blogspot.com/2009_05_01_archive.html> (5)
o â–º <javascript:void(0)> April
<http://wesleytheowl.blogspot.com/2009_04_01_archive.html> (3)
o â–º <javascript:void(0)> March
<http://wesleytheowl.blogspot.com/2009_03_01_archive.html> (1)
o â–º <javascript:void(0)> February
<http://wesleytheowl.blogspot.com/2009_02_01_archive.html> (5)
* â–º <javascript:void(0)> 2008
<http://wesleytheowl.blogspot.com/search?updated-min=2008-01-01T00%3A00%3A00-08%3A00&updated-max=2009-01-01T00%3A00%3A00-08%3A00&max-results=26>
(26)
o â–º <javascript:void(0)> November
<http://wesleytheowl.blogspot.com/2008_11_01_archive.html> (3)
o â–º <javascript:void(0)> October
<http://wesleytheowl.blogspot.com/2008_10_01_archive.html> (22)
o â–º <javascript:void(0)> August
<http://wesleytheowl.blogspot.com/2008_08_01_archive.html> (1)
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About Me
Stacey O'Brien
View my complete profile
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copyright 2009 Wesley the Owl Inc
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