Owl Friends

Here I am in Scotland with Dylan the owl. Tim's uncle Rod runs the Scottish Owl Center which is where we were staying in Scotland. They have a bunch of different owls and some of them are trained for displays like this one, whose name is Dylan. Dylan is a barn owl and very friendly. He enjoyed flying back and forth from my hand to the perches on either side of the room. Rod rewarded him by feeding him bits of baby chick meat which is what owls eat for treats. They get the baby chick meat from chicken farmers who don't need the male chicks and get rid of them. In the wild, owls normally eat small rodents etc. and swallow them whole only to cough up the indigestible parts in pellets later on. That part is sad and very disgusting. Owls aren't the most warm and cuddly creatures, but they are very interesting despite the whole "swallowing little animals whole" thing.