In Rusty's absence Iris had to deal with Rhett and Delilah's nightly intrusions. Besides hooting on and around their aviaries, Rhett and Delilah figured out how to get INTO the open flight pen. The door had been left open so the owlets could return to mooch food if needed, but they didn't.
It seemed a long wait to get through Rusty's medication dosing so he could go back with Iris. I was only too happy to close the outside door to the flight pen to prevent the wild owls from coming in and to put Rusty back out there. He was disoriented at first, probably from a combination of being in a dog carrier for almost a week and from the effects of missing his right eye. Their eyes are huge, so missing that much weight on one side of his head could easily affect things.
Rusty didn't fly much once he got up onto a perch, but he did hoot some, as did Iris.
It wasn't until the next night, after Rusty had eaten his last pill-laden food, that I could open the door between the pens so Rusty and Iris could be together again. And what a happy occasion it was!!
Thank you for letting us see a magical moment in the life of these two precious owls. Their joyous hoots said it all.
ReplyDeleteHi Carla, thank you so much for all the videos! This one is sure special ... I love all the vocalizing between Rusty and Iris. So sweet. Might seem like a silly question but do you observe Rusty and Iris preening each other?
ReplyDeleteThe preening question is not silly at all. I've always heard that owls preen each other, but I've never really seen Rusty and Iris do it to each other in any kind of a meaningful way.
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