Great Horned Owl

This great horned owl was born at a zoo and served as one of their

residents for over 20 years. Plans for a new exhibit at the zoo did not

include a great horned owl. A new home needed to found for her. Luckily, the zoo folks thought of us. Aggie came to live with us in 2008.

We initially tried to train Aggie for education, but this old owl was not

interested in learning new tricks. That was fine, she could just stay as an exhibit bird.

Aggie revealed her true talent the following spring. She laid an egg in her enclosure and was very protective. For everyone’s safety, Aggie was moved to an enclosure away from the public. After moving to the new cage, she quickly laid a second one. A few days later we admitted a nestling great horned owl. We tried a brave experiment. We replaced Aggie’s eggs with the chick. Success! You never saw such a proud mother. Aggie raised 8 youngsters that summer. She is a wonderful foster mom and some of the staff have the scars to prove it. When Aggie isn’t raising kids, she is happy to visit with you.