Southampton, England
Snowy the owl may be a stuffed animal, but her “adopted” babies
sure give a hoot about her! After five tawny owl chicks were found
orphaned, rescuers at the New Forest Otter, Owl, and Wildlife Park
placed them with the cuddly toy to help the babies feel more com-
fortable. At first the chicks were afraid of the large white bird. But
when animal manager John Crooks warmed Snowy on the radiator,
the chicks crawled under her wings to take advantage of her “body
heat.” After several months, the chicks were ready to leave the
nest. What happened to dear old stuffed mom? “She was a bit messy
from all the babies,” Crooks says. So Snowy took her own trip—to the
washing machine!Richland, Washington
Faith the Rottweiler sure has a nose for handling emergencies—
the four-year-old service dog used her snout to call 911 after
her physically disabled owner became unconscious! “I was in
the kitchen when I passed out and hit my head,” owner Leana
Beasley says. “Most helper dogs need a command to do what
Faith did, but she put the clues together and went for the
phone.” Just as she was trained to do, the pooch used her
snout to knock the special phone off the hook and press a
button to speed dial 911. Then Faith barked into the handset.
“The dispatcher could tell that this call was no mistake,”
Beasley says. “She could hear the urgency in Faith’s bark.” An
ambulance arrived, and Beasley was rushed to the hospital. “A
lot ofpeoplewouldn’t have known what to do,” Beasley
says. “Faith did—and I’m eternally grateful.”NEST BEST THING
To f e e d
her chick, a female
owl brushes food against
the whiskers above the
chick’s beak, and
the baby opens
its mouth.Faith
used a strap
to pull open the
front door and
let in emergency
workers.BY AMANDA PRESSNERSPEED-DIALING DOG
NEST BEST THING
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC KIDS 13
“OWL”
ALWAYS
LOVE THESE
GUYS.HELLO,
THiS iS
DOG
SPEAKiNG.