Papa G’Ho puffs out his feathers and claps his beak. He’s

angry. Get back, human! This baby is mine!

CLACK! CLACK! CLACK! Baby owl puffs out its feathers

and claps its beak, too. That’s right, human! Back off!

Papa G’Ho, with his flattened “horns”—tufts of feathers that

look like ears—is one grumpy owl. As a surrogate father he’s

teaching the little owlet to be wary of humans. And that’s a

good thing. Without this wariness, the baby owl, even when

an adult, would not be able to survive in the wild.

The owlet, patient #16-0097, was brought to the

Wildlife Center of Virginia when it was about three

weeks old. Loggers clearing trees had destroyed its

nest. One of the loggers found the baby great horned

owl, just a bundle of fluffy down, and brought it to

the center.

CLACK! CLACK! CLACK!

by Dionna L. Mann

text © 2019 by Dionna L. Mann

NE GRUMPY

Papa

G’Ho:

Did You Know?

Great horned owls adapt

to many habitats, living

from the Arctic to South

America, in deserts and

swamps, in grasslands

and woodlands.

Patient #16-0097 and Papa G’Ho

A SURROGATE IS A

STAND-IN OR SUBSTITUTE.

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