Owl Found Unable to Fly, Turns Out to Be Overweight
When it comes to owls, many people probably first think of their agile bodies, flying gracefully and stylishly, and standing there with a domineering aura.
However, there are always exceptions to everything. For example, the owl described below.
This actually happened last month in Saxmundham, England, beside a waterway. Someone suddenly discovered an owl sitting in the water! It looked motionless, so it must have been injured and unable to fly, right? That's not necessarily the case. Later, it was discovered that this 'injured' owl was rescued by a kind person who quickly contacted the Suffolk Owl Sanctuary to take the little guy away for examination to see exactly where he was injured.
The result was after a thorough check, it turned out that it wasn't injured at all, but rather a surprising thing: this guy's weight was 1/3 heavier than that of an ordinary owl!
Healthy and nothing is wrong, it's just fat!
The rescue station's experts said that this owl's subcutaneous fat in its legs and abdomen was particularly thick, which was not seen on ordinary wild owls. So they estimated that it might not be because the owl's breeding season is approaching, so this female owl can increase its weight so that it can have better babies? Of course, this is just a guess, because such a heavy weight is uncommon in wild owls, so there must be an explanation.
But the most direct reason is:Eating too much, everywhere is full of food.If you wake up from a sleep and find a buffet, how could you not gain weight?
Later, the staff went to the scene where the owl was rescued and found that there were many rats and mice nearby. Because the local temperature was very humid and warm in December last year, it led to a large number of rodents. Then, if there's an owl, it's like diving into a buffet, right? You have to eat and eat!
Actually, this is not surprising. The experts also said that owls will 'overhunt' when there is plenty of food, and they will eat as much as they can. This way, if the weather is bad and there are no prey to hunt, they won't be hungry, which is a precautionary measure.
So, this super-fat owl is like a wise and prepared one, with plenty of food in its belly.
After the rescue station's staff helped this owl with a diet and weight loss, and in the coming weeks, the scale began to decrease significantly, and in January, it was safely released back into the wild.
Now the temperature is starting to rise, and the prey will not decrease because of the cold weather, so don't overeat.
