Gone Green, part 2

Owls and wolves are great metaphors.

Owls are wise (potato chips), intelligent.  Wolves are sneaky, lurking around the hen-house or dressing in sheep’s clothes.  Sometimes the wolf is at the door and we have to hold it at bay before it huffs and puffs and blows our house down.

Owls and wolves are also real animals, deserving of our respect and attention.  That is what I came to realize while spending the past week at an animal rescue reserve.

Here are two magnificent owls that are being rehabilitated.  Each one was in an accident that left one eye blind.  While there is no damage to their wings, the use of one eye raises questions about depth perception.  Can a half-blind owl survive in the wild where they fly in close quarters among trees and need to surprise their prey?

And in this photo is Cree.  He is 3/4th wolf and 1/4th German Shepherd.  He’s very wolf-like in appearance but larger than the typical wolf.  He is not a pet in the traditional sense.  Yet he will never be able to survive in the wild.

Cree, 3/4ths wolf and 1/4th shepherd

These aren’t TV animals.  You won’t see them on any Discovery Channel documentary.  They are wild creatures who may not be able to survive in the wild.  They do serve an important educational purpose.  Through the educational programs of Steve Hill, these animals are helping children understand the animals who share the land with us.

And that’s true for both the city and the rural areas.  Just look up in the sky above Central Park and you’ll see hawks soaring and maybe even an owl or two.