Farewell, Mr. Owl

Dear Bay Weekly:
    Sadly I must tell you Mr. Oliver T. Owl passed away on the morning of April 17.
    When I visited with Oliver at the Davidsonville Wildlife Sanctuary, rehabilitator Sandy Carr said he was doing well, eating the meat she was offering him. He seemed alert and checking everything out from his perch in an aquarium in her clinic. I had an opportunity to stroke his rear neck feathers — oh, so soft — and he didn’t seem to mind.
    Sandy said he wasn’t interested in eating early Sunday morning, and when she went back about 11am to try again, she found that he had died.
    He touched the hearts of many during the short time we knew him.
    If there is a lesson in all this, it’s that Sandy Carr is a wonderful steward of wildlife, not only for Oliver but for all the critters she’s watching over. The Davidsonville Wildlife Sanctuary operates only through donations. Please visit her site for more information: http://www.wildlifesanctuary.us.
    Learn more about what you can and should not do in aiding wildlife — and links to rehabilitators in your area — on the website of Maryland Wildlife Rehabilitators Association: www.mwra.org/
pages/wildlife-rescue.php

–Peggy Traband, Lothian

Editor’s Note: Mr. Oliver T. Owl’s rescue from Nutwell-Sudley Road was the subject of April 14’s Creature Feature, written by Traband, who was the first to come to his aid: http://bayweekly.com/articles/creature-features/article/weeks-creature-feature-8.