From Ojai Raptor Center
Our awesome volunteer Janine is headed to our Tanner flight enclosure to do some cleaning, where a few of this year's Great Horned Owl hatchlings are currently being raised and prepared for release. We're giving them the best possible chance of survival in the wild.
To thrive after release, it's critical that these young owls view humans as predators, not caregivers. That's why our team wears ghillie suits and gloves to obscure our human features as much as possible when working around the young "orphans" in our care. Proper imprinting-onto their own species-is vital, and mal- imprinting typically occurs within the first month after hatching.
Janine went the extra mile and made her own Great Horned Owl helmet to help ensure these owlets grow up recognizing their own kind-not us. Of all the species we work with, Great Horned Owls are among the most prone to mal-imprinting on humans, so these precautions are essential. Thanks Janine!
