Bubba

[Bandespresso]

I recently started bird handling and going on educational programs with the wildlife center I work at and it is a blast! Here is a picture of one of our education owls, Bubba, and I on my very first presentation at a preschool. They made little white fluffy pine one owlets and filled a box with dish soap and paper towels for us...too cute!!

(I have so many more pictures I'm not allowed to share but I finally got the okay for this one )

 

[Terry57]

Bubba is so beautiful! I'm so gad you were allowed to share the picture. I bet the kids were amazed to see an owl up close!

 

[RavensGryf]

Sounds like an experience Brittany, for you, the children, AND Bubba! Funny name for an owl lol. He looks huge!

 

[Bandespresso]

Thanks to you both! I love the work that I do it is so rewarding and it's great to share a bit of it with you guys and my friends/family.

They absolutely adored him!! I'm loving working with these guys! They are surprisingly easier than parrots to work with in that talons are easier to avoid than a bone-crushing beaky. Bubba is pretty big but not as big as the black vulture I work with (we're trying to get him back out on programs! Hopefully soon!) Bubba got his name from the big biker man that brought him to us as a little tiny owlet 15 years ago.

 

[JerseyWendy]

Gasp!!! Bubba is STUNNING!!!! Yes, I'm green with envy here.

Thank you for sharing him with us!

 

[RavensGryf]

How much does Bubba weigh? I'd love to see pics of the vulture when you get him out "working" again!
I know you have to wear an arm protector for large sharp talons, but is it not ever in their nature to come at you with that flesh ripping beak? (Of course I mean an untame or unwilling one). Lol, I don't know about birds other than parrots and finches!

 

[Bandespresso]

Isn't he though?? I need to get a picture of his friend Otto who is absolutely stunning and completely different coloring. It is crazy how much Great Horned Owl coloring varies.

He is just under a kilo I think which gets pretty heavy after an hour lolol. It's definitely in their nature even for the more complacent ones. Thankfully for my fingers, it is usually just meant as a warning rather than an actual defense mechanism. Leather gloves are my best friend!