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• Daily Nature Programs in Summer
• Owls Added to Naturalist Program
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Owls Added to Naturalist Program

Grandfather Mountain has acquired three owls for use in the naturalist's educational program.  Grandfather's guests can get "up close and personal" with a red-phase screech owl named "Herbie," a gray-phase screech owl named "Zoey," and a barred owl named "Shakespeare."

Screech owls get their name from the shrill sound of their call. One of the smallest owls in North America, (about a quarter of a pound) screech owls come in red and gray.   Because screech owls are usually only active after dark, their eyes are specially designed to let in as much light as possible.  This helps them find their prey at night, but it also results in the species having yellow eyes.

The barred owl gets its name from the pattern of vertical bars that can be seen on the back and chest of the adult owls. Significantly larger than the screech owl, Grandfather's juvenile barred owl weighs 1.2 pounds.  Barred owls are often active in the twilight hours, and for that reason their eyes need to be able to adjust to brighter light levels than their strictly-nocturnal relatives.  The result is that barred owls have dark brown eyes.

All of the owls that now reside at Grandfather were injured in collisions with automobiles and taken for rehabilitation to the Wildlife Care Center of the Blue Ridge in nearby Jonas Ridge.  After months of nursing, the owls were put to the test in a flight cage to see if they had the skills they would need to survive in the wild.  When they could not prove to the rehabors that they still had the agility and edge to support themselves in the hunt, efforts turned to finding them homes as educational animals.

Naturalist Jesse Pope, who interned at the Wildlife Care Center of the Blue Ridge while he was in college, invites the owls to perch on his heavily-gloved hand and brings them out where guests can examine them closely and ask questions about their unique adaptations for hunting at night.  And the enthusiasm guests show during one-on-one encounters with these big-eyed ones always gives Pope a smile.

"It is great fun being able to give guests a closer look at these mysterious night prowlers," Pope said.

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