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[music]
This is Tonka, a great horned owl,
the largest owl that we have in this area.
This is the owl that does the "hoo-h'HOO-hoo-hoo."
Tonka did come here in 1991
because she fell into a sludge pit.
She was covered with this oily substance, okay?
And probably in that fight to get out of this whole situation,
this left wing here was broken.
And it was broken in such a spot that it wasn't really repairable
to the point where she could be released.
A lot of times, with broken wings,
all the muscles that are attached to the wings
and the chest also get damaged, too.
Their diet, which consists of just about anything;
anything that's out there is fair game.
And the one thing that I find impressive about these birds
is their strength.
They can carry something three times their weight.
Okay?
Which always leads me to the question,
"How much does she weigh?"
She weighs right now, today, four pounds and one ounce. Okay?
So that means she can pick up something that's 12 pounds.
In the wintertime, she'll weigh more.
She'll weigh up to five pounds.
They put on that added weight for warmth.
Their eyeballs are so big.
Her eyeball and mine are the same size.
And look at how much bigger my head is than Tonka's. Okay?
So that shows you how they're just all eyes and beak
and how that eye has to be supported by the bony ring.
This bird would eat just about anything.
And it will eat, you know the screech owl?
If you ever hear a lot of crows cawing,
look to see what's around
because it's probably either an owl or a hawk,
and what they're doing is they're dive-bombing that owl
or that hawk trying to make them get away
because that owl will eat that crow.
She will blend in to that tree.
You don't see them in the summertime, you know,
they're way up there in the top of the trees.
With all the leaves you barely see them.
In the wintertime, you can see them a little bit more
not because you're spotting the owl,
but because you're spotting the silhouette
sitting on that branch.
And they are here all year 'round,
all through the winter and that.
One thing I always thought was amazing, too,
is that they lay their eggs in February.
You know, it's snowing out and those babies are being--
I've seen pictures of the new hatched babies
and they've got snowflakes on their head.
And I thought, "Why in the world are they having babies now?"
But there's always a reason for everything in nature.
And the reason is that when the next month goes by,
and now we're into April and May,
the other babies are being born,
bunnies and chipmunks or more mice.
And that is a good learning tool for the young owls to hunt.