I haven't been doing many book reports here anymore, but this latest book I just finished impacted me to the point, that I just wanted to talk about it.
Many times I'm attracted to a book by it's cover & title, and this one was just "cute" enough to get me to look. As I read the description, it captured my imagination, and it "followed me home."
Wesley the Owl is not a novel - it's a memoir, written by a young botanist from Caltech, who was entrusted with a rescued baby owl to take home to raise and observe.
Owls are the type of creature who "imprint" on the person (or creature) who takes care of it, and bond for life - thus, as the quote from the Little Prince goes; "If you tame something, you are responsible for it forever"
It was so fascinating to learn about Owl behavior in the wild - and in captivity. Many survival techniques are taught to the creatures by their "parent", but when the "parent" has no knowledge of that behavior - what then?
Wesley appears to learn a few behaviors from his human parent, that are foreign to owls in the wild - and misses out on learning some that would have been crucial for him to return to it.
Not just an interesting story, but also a touching one - it is apparent through the book, that this Botanist also "imprints" on the owl - as she chooses her bird over "the latest boyfriend" time and time again, and, at the end of the book, ends up still single. ("Love me, love my owl.") Mainly because many aspects of the owl's care are difficult for the average human to tolerate (Like the mouse thing - ick.) and they are put off by it.
I also learned a bit about the behaviors of Botanists, which can be even more strange than wild creatures they care for! ...Such as the one who became obsessed with black widow spiders to the point that he not only kept them and raved about their "cuteness" at the office, but refused to kill them or damage their habitat at home - letting them breed freely and take over his house and yard - until he ended up in an "institution" of a different kind. Hmmm...
As the book progresses, Stacy (the botanist) and her owl not only bond, but learn to communicate with each other, and is a very touching and tender story. But this book conveys a little more than that - it teaches that all living things are individuals and have a soul - it also passes on a reverence for all life.
I don't think I'll ever look on any creature in exactly the same way.
Read it - you'll love it!
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