Meet Casper The Owl Who Has Raised Over 500 Rescued Owlets In 26 Years

At the Orphaned Wildlife Rehabilitation Society in Delta, British Columbia, a great horned owl named Casper has been raising rescued owlets as her own for 26 years and has now fostered more than 500 of them, making her one of the most quietly extraordinary animals in wildlife rehabilitation anywhere in the country. Casper arrived at the society in 1999 after being caught in a leg-hold trap in Prince George that left her with missing talons, a permanent injury that meant she could never safely hunt in the wild and would need to stay in human care for the rest of her life. She found her calling the first time she was placed near a baby owlet: she immediately tried to get into the infant's enclosure, and once volunteers removed the barrier, she was feeding the owlet within an hour. She has not stopped since.

Rob Hope, the society's manager, says what makes Casper irreplaceable is not just her maternal instincts but her fierce and consistent aversion to humans, which is exactly the quality the owlets need to absorb before they are released into the wild. The owlets look up to her, follow her, and mimic her behaviors, including flying, hunting mice, and maintaining a healthy wariness of people, and researchers say animals raised this way have a significantly better chance of long-term survival than those raised in more human-centric settings. Casper is currently fostering four more fledglings, all between six and seven weeks old, all rescued from different circumstances and all in the care of the same dedicated mother who has never once turned a baby away. Hope says she has a little edge to her personality, which he describes as entirely appropriate, and that after 26 years of trusting her completely, he hopes she gets another 26.

Source:https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/casper-owl-foster-mom-9.7190120