Ashlee Brown Blewett - Hoot, Hoot, Hooray!: And More True Stories of Amazing Animal Rescues

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ISBN: 978-1-4263-2054-5
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v3.1

Baby owl Paul stands beside his sister, Babe. Eastern screech-owls can be red, like Paul, or gray, like Babe. ()

When Homer Kuhn found these little baby owls, their eyes were still closed. ()

May 1, 2013
New Creek, West Virginia, U.S.A.

I t was a sunny day, without a cloud in the sky. Birds chirped, squirrels barked, hawks screamed, and a family of deer ate grass near the edge of the woods. Woodcutter Homer Kuhn (sounds like COON) had just finished sawing the base of a dried-out tree.

Timber! Homer called.

The tree hit the ground. Thud!

Homer looped a long, heavy chain around the log. His brother, Willie, pulled the log out of the forest using a large machine that looks like a tractor, called a skidder. As the log slid past Homer, a flash of white caught his eye. He thought he saw two snowballs lying on the ground. But Homer knew that they couldnt be snowballs. It was 80F (26.5C) outside.

Homer says, I thought, what in the world is lying white like that in the middle of the woods? He walked over to investigate. Lying in the dirt were two baby eastern screech-owls.

Homer scooped up the baby owls, or owlets, in his hand. They looked like two fluffy marshmallows. Peep, peep! the owlets called. They must have fallen out of a hole in the log, Homer thought.

Some birds build nests. Not screech-owls. Instead, they nest inside tree cavities (sounds like KAV-uh-tees). These are holes made by other animals, like woodpeckers. Usually, the mother owl looks after the babies while the father owl hunts for food to bring back to the family.

Homer searched the area for the owlets parents. He looked inside the holes of other trees. But he found no parent owls. Homer knew that if he left the owlets in the woods with no home and no parents, they would die. He wrapped the babies in an old T-shirt. Then he pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and called the one person he knew would help.

Hello, said Mrs. Tammi Kuhn.

Hi, Mom, Homer answered. We have something.

Is it squirrels again? Mrs. Kuhn asked.

No, we found two baby owls this time, Homer said.

Oh my! said Mrs. Kuhn. Ill be right there.

Mrs. Kuhn was used to getting calls like this from her sons. Homer and Willie work for a logging company. They spend most days in the woods, cutting down trees. Then they sell the logs they collect to a nearby sawmill to be cut into boards and sold as lumber. Sometimes, in the woods, the brothers find baby animals.