owl re captured

Hi to all
i was recently asked to help some people who could no longer use their garden in fear from a large owl like sage, the problem was it was a released imprinted bird & some people started to feed it which in a way was kind however it was also really bad as the captive bread birds of prey are the ones who are not scared of humans & who are often viewed as pests through no fault of there own. i contacted an organisation called owls r us & asked if i captured the bird would they be willing to give him a home they said they had also been aproached by another neighbour re the owl we then set out to capture the bird, since then the people feeding the bird have lodged a pr campaign re discrediting myself sage & owls r us based mostly on rubbish. see the story http://www.thisisnorthdevon.co.uk/Pet-owners-relieved-giant-eagle-owl-captured/story-17330740-detail/story.html

HI EG
Good to hear from you again I am a persistant little devil because I have got trouble with my explorer this evening and it's taken my about 5 goes to get the link to open, my pc not your link causing trouble, but I was determined to read that story.

I am amazed that people have complained after wanting the owl captured. As you say it must have been a captive bird to be continually accepting food from humans and hanging around so closely to them and I assume that by constantly feeding it, it would not have hunted for itself and then it could have starved.

It also surprises me that as it was a recognised owl rescue centre that rescued the owl, it was not really likely that someone was trying to capture it illegally to keep it. The owl needs a safe place and hopefully now it will get one and you never know it may have escaped and it's owner may now be found......are owls tattooed for records of ownership? or just ringed?

I believe the right thing was done especially for the owl as it was more than likely as you say a captive bird in the first place and if it was and someone did just let it go, I am horrified.

I hope he now finds a life long home.

I don't get much time to reply but I love Sages updates on FB

littlewid-x-

this bird would have been closed rung that is to say it would have been registered with defra as an owlet so in a matter of weeks the ring could not come off accidentally as its a solid ring not a crushable ring, therefore it was not an escaped bird as it would still have its ring so the ring had to have been removed understanding its a criminal offence to release a captive bred eurasian because of problems like this & the ring would have led them back to who released it.
the problem is the three people who wanted to keep the status quo are registering differant names & disliking my posts & the 6 people who i know of who were scared of the bird have privatly thanked me but are not putting their head above the parapit so i look like a billy no mates.
if anybody goes to the story if they could like (green arrow or red if they disagree) any comment posts they have a view on at least that would show others without the agender of revenge are taking part.
im glad you enjoy the updates i have not done much lately as i have been trying to resolve my thorny planning thing.
best wishes to you & all on WAA

Hi EG
Having read the story, and the comments. I think the problem is that people are confusing the issue of this particular Owl with wild breeding European Owls in the UK. If the Owls are truly wild, and have not been imprinted then they should be no danger to humans. However its very clear in all cases of wildlife releases where animals can be a danger to human beings, that if an animal has been imprinted, then it should not be released as it has no fear of humans. That rule applies all over the world.
From the stories about this Owl, its clearly been imprinted, and has no fear of being close to humans, and expecting food from them. Whilst there have been no reports of attacks as yet, it will only need one, where a Baby, Toddler, or Pet is attacked, and this Owl would have then been in danger of being shot, or worse. Before anyone says that there have been no reported attacks by these Owls in the UK, one only happened as recently as September in South Shields, and this was on a 17 Yr Old.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2207899/Teenager-left-whiplash-attacked-eagle-owl.html. On the coast where I live Gulls will now attack people for food that they have in their hands, they have lost their fear of humans through constantly beeing fed. If Gulls will do it so will Owls that have been imprinted, so the lesson is already there.
I've posted those comments on the newspaper article as well. If you have time, I could do with some advice. There's a young boy in the Village near where I live who has recently bought a pair of European Owls, he wants to breed them to sell the Owletts. I'm concerned about the size of aviary their in they cant stretch their wings fully, he says he has a liencence, but I'm wondering if there should be any inspection of where they are being kept before a liencence would be issued, and any other regulations you know of.
WS
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