An Owl In My Hut
By Jabo
@jaboUK (64361)
United Kingdom
June 25, 2016 7:29pm CST
I work at the racecourse selling entrance tickets, and I do this from a little wooden hut.
Yesterday I unlocked it to start work and there was a baby owl perched on my stool.
The hut has no light until I open up the shutters, so it had been in darkness until then, and it looked a bit disorientated.
The roof space stretches quite a long way, over some other buildings, so I presumed there was a nest up there somewhere.
As it would be impossible to work with it fluttering about amongst my tickets and money, I called a maintenance man and he managed to catch the now quite lively bird. He twice put it up into the roof space, but both times it just flew back down again.
There is another hut adjoining mine and this wasn't being used, so we decided that the best thing was to put it in there for now, then put it back into my hut when I'd finished work, and hope that the parent bird would find it.
However, when the races were over and we opened the other hut there was no sign of it. I suppose it must have found it's way back to it's nest via the roof space. I hope so, as I feel a bit guilty for moving it.
I didn't have my camera with me, so the photo is from Pixabay. It's of a tawny owl, which is what this one was.
61 people like this
61 responses
@allen0187 (58438)
• Philippines
26 Jun 16
I bet this owl will show up again at another time. I haven't had any close encounters with owls.
3 people like this
@jaboUK (64361)
• United Kingdom
26 Jun 16
@allen0187 It will probably have moved on by the time I go back there, that is if it survives. I hope it does, but I'll probably never know.
3 people like this
@allen0187 (58438)
• Philippines
26 Jun 16
@jaboUK are owls common in your country? I mean, are owl encounters normal?
1 person likes this
@jaboUK (64361)
• United Kingdom
26 Jun 16
@allen0187 They are quite common, but we don't see them often as they usually only come out at night. There are several different kinds.
2 people like this
@Drosophila (16573)
• Ireland
26 Jun 16
you shouldn't have any mice problems at all then woot
2 people like this
@jaboUK (64361)
• United Kingdom
26 Jun 16
@Drosophila I never thought of that, and it's true that I've never seen any mice or rats in that area.
2 people like this
@jaboUK (64361)
• United Kingdom
26 Jun 16
@Drosophila Lol - so Lear wasn't entirely about nonsense!
1 person likes this
@Drosophila (16573)
• Ireland
26 Jun 16
@jaboUK yep they are the flying pussycat! and that's probably why the owl and the pussycat even got married! same dietary habits
2 people like this
@responsiveme (22926)
• India
26 Jun 16
That was an interesting episode.
We usually have tiny brown owls around, but in the winter months the big white Siberian owls pay us a visit. about 10 years ago, there was one which would perch under our bedroom roof and look at us through the sky light.
This visitor used to come regularly for7 years and then stopped coming. I like to think it was the same owl
2 people like this
@jaboUK (64361)
• United Kingdom
26 Jun 16
@responsiveme How nice that the Siberian owl visited you. So you saw it in daylight? I thought they were mostly nocturnal.
1 person likes this
@jaboUK (64361)
• United Kingdom
26 Jun 16
@responsiveme Oh right - that makes more sense
1 person likes this
@responsiveme (22926)
• India
26 Jun 16
@jaboUK no at night, it would look down at us when we would be in bed telling my babies:) stories and hubby on his computer or newspaper.
2 people like this
@epiffanie (11326)
• Australia
27 Jun 16
I hope it found it's way to it's nest and back to it's mama bird .. Did you get to touch it?
I have never come that close to an owl .. the closest I got to one of them was about 3 metres away .. I would have loved to touch it ..
1 person likes this
@epiffanie (11326)
• Australia
28 Jun 16
@jaboUK that is true isn't it?. maybe if the mama bird sense some strange smell, she might reject it ..
1 person likes this
@jaboUK (64361)
• United Kingdom
27 Jun 16
@epiffanie Hi Bess, no I didn't touch it - I figured the less people touch it the more chance of the parent accepting it back. The maintenance man was very gentle with it.
1 person likes this
@Juliaacv (48385)
• Canada
26 Jun 16
@jaboUK That's true. I remember seeing something in our son's room 1 night while he was sleeping. We hadn't owned the house very long, and it seemed that the owners previous to us neglected to properly tighten the screens. I felt something swoop near me, and I thought it a large bug, so I high-tailed it down to the kitchen in search of a fly swater, when I got there I turned the lights on, and saw it was a bat, and he was chasing me! I ran and hid in the bathroom with the door closed until my hubby came and swooshed it out. And of course our son slept thru it all!
1 person likes this
@crazyhorseladycx (39515)
• United States
26 Jun 16
aw, poor lil critter! ya did'jer best though, hon. hopefully it'd regained't's strength 'n perhaps 'twas bein' persuaded to return to the nestin' area by a parent. i'm sure such a find 'twas a tad shockin', but what a lovely 'xperience, eh? big hugs 'n love!
1 person likes this
@jaboUK (64361)
• United Kingdom
26 Jun 16
@crazyhorseladycx Let's hope it was found by it's parent and that it's ok now. It's feathers were a bit wet, so I don't know where it had been.
Luv back atcha
1 person likes this
@jaboUK (64361)
• United Kingdom
27 Jun 16
@crazyhorseladycx It's been raining a lot here, so whether it had been out in it, or if the roof had leaked onto it I don't know.
Glad you got the postcard
1 person likes this
@crazyhorseladycx (39515)
• United States
27 Jun 16
@jaboUK wet feathers?? don'tcha wonder if'n when (if?) the parent found't, the wee one got a scoldin'? surely those feathers'd dried durin' the day'n all 'twas well :D
big hugs 'n love! got'cher beautiful postcard yesterday! still droolin' o'er the pic, lol.
1 person likes this
@Ceerios (4698)
• Goodfellow, Texas
26 Jun 16
@jaboUK - Ms Janet - Just to let you know -- I think that I may actually be catching on as to the way to follow up on comments and the like; that is, how to find out if there is a comment or two out there that needs replying. (I'm slower about stuff than I once was...) 
1 person likes this
@ridingbet (66857)
• Philippines
26 Jun 16
an owl hooting on top of a house is a sign of bad luck here in my country. even dogs that howl, these are considered bad luck. nice to see an owl that has its eyes closed in broad day;light. was the owl you saw with close eyes?
1 person likes this
@jaboUK (64361)
• United Kingdom
26 Jun 16
@ridingbet They aren't considered bad luck here, but this one wasn't hooting anyway. He was blinking his eyes.
1 person likes this
@jaboUK (64361)
• United Kingdom
27 Jun 16
@ridingbet Yes they are nocturnal, and it wasn't broad daylight for him until I opened the door. It was dark in there.
1 person likes this
@ridingbet (66857)
• Philippines
27 Jun 16
@jaboUK in broad daylight? i thought owls sleep during daytime?
1 person likes this
@annaroselock (805)
• United Kingdom
26 Jun 16
They are just so magical and beautiful!
1 person likes this
@jaboUK (64361)
• United Kingdom
26 Jun 16
@annaroselock This one was rather bedraggled - his feathers were wet.
1 person likes this
@jaboUK (64361)
• United Kingdom
27 Jun 16
@annaroselock Either the rain, or the roof leaked where he was sitting in the rafters. I'm not sure.
1 person likes this
@ElusiveButterfly (45940)
• United States
27 Jun 16
I can understand your wanting to keep it out of your space. Hopefully the mother will find it okay.
1 person likes this
@ElusiveButterfly (45940)
• United States
27 Jun 16
@jaboUK yeah that is pretty gross.
1 person likes this
@jaboUK (64361)
• United Kingdom
27 Jun 16
@ElusiveButterfly Yes, I couldn't have worked with it there - I'm dealing with money and have to be accurate, plus I didn't like the idea of it pooping everywhere.
1 person likes this
@arthurchappell (45002)
• Preston, England
26 Jun 16
owls are awesome - wish I'd seen it - maybe it was a messenger from Hogwarts
1 person likes this
@arthurchappell (45002)
• Preston, England
26 Jun 16
@jaboUK i'm just a muggle so no owls for me
1 person likes this
@LadyDuck (457918)
• Switzerland
27 Jun 16
@jaboUK I understand, I remember last year that I saw a baby blackbird that was unable to fly back to the nest. It started a thunderstorm and I went out under the rain searching for it. I have been unable to find it and I felt so sorry I could do nothing more.
1 person likes this
@MarymargII (12422)
• Toronto, Ontario
27 Jun 16
Wow- that was quite a find- an owl no less! Hope its mom figured things out- Not something you'd expect at a job----lol!
1 person likes this
@jaboUK (64361)
• United Kingdom
27 Jun 16
@MarymargII You're right - it was very unexpected. The thing is that it's a very quiet location except on race days - then all hell breaks loose. So wildlife will get a rude awakening if they set up home there.
1 person likes this
@MarymargII (12422)
• Toronto, Ontario
27 Jun 16
@jaboUK Ha ha- you're right. Its not like they can contact a real estate agent to learn about the neighborhood!
1 person likes this
