Wesley the Owl: The Remarkable Love Story of an Owl and His Girl

"[S]weet, quirky memoir....[T]his little guy's such a character."-- "USA Today"""Wesley the Owl" is beautiful, funny, transcendental, fascinating, and powerful. I loved this book!" -- Lynne Cox, author of "Grayson" and "Swimming to Antarctica""An inside look at the mind of an owl. If you are interested in animal intelligence, you should read this book."-- Temple Grandin, author of "Animals in Translation""This fun book reminded me of "Marley & Me," but with wings. Warm, weird, and wonderful, more >>

"[S]weet, quirky memoir....[T]his little guy's such a character."-- "USA Today"""Wesley the Owl" is beautiful, funny, transcendental, fascinating, and powerful. I loved this book!" -- Lynne Cox, author of "Grayson" and "Swimming to Antarctica""An inside look at the mind of an owl. If you are interested in animal intelligence, you should read this book."-- Temple Grandin, author of "Animals in Translation""This fun book reminded me of "Marley & Me," but with wings. Warm, weird, and wonderful, Wesley the Owl is proof that man's best friend sometimes has feathers." -- Mark Obmascik, author of "The Big Year""The best of love stories between two intelligent beings, told (by the human) with good humor and remarkable insights into the mind of an owl -- I couldn't put it down."-- Donald Kroodsma, Ph.D., professor emeritus at University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and author of "The Singing Life of Birds""Wesley will make you wonder if owls are not at least as wise as humans and as capable of compassion. "Wesley the Owl" will stretch your notions about the limits of interspecies communication and love. It will entertain, delight and, finally, cause you to weep. Guaranteed."-- Sam Keen, author of "Sightings: Extraordinary Encounters With Ordinary Birds""This compelling story sheds a bright, shining light into the world of animal emotions and the powerful bonds forged between animals and humans. A heartfelt journey of life and love with one of nature's wild creatures, "Wesley the Owl" is a must-read story of faith, compassion, and selfless devotion." -- Jay Kopelman, author of "From Baghdad," "With Love" and "From Baghdad to America""Most 'me and my bird' stories are mildly entertaining at best, but" Wesley the Owl" is a different animal altogether. Stacey O'Brien got to know this owl with a unique combination of deep scientific understanding and rare emotional intensity, and the result is stunning, unforgettable. Read this book and you will never see owls, or humans, in the same light again." -- Kenn Kaufman, author of "Kingbird Highway" and "Flights Against the Sunset""Stacey O'Brien tells the intriguing story of how her life was changed and rearranged when she attempted to tame and raise Wesley -- a barn owl. She shows us how she was ultimately repaid with his love and devotion, and given glimpses into the mind of an animal that has an unexpected ability to understand human language and to communicate. Fascinating!"-- Stanley Coren, psychologist and author of "How Dogs Think" and "Why Does My Dog Act That Way?""I love "Wesley the Owl"! Not since Konrad Lorenz have I read such an honest, vivid, and revealing account of the rich and complex life of an individual bird. Stacey O'Brien has captured the essence of the soul of an unforgettable owl. Affectionate, quirky, joyous, and wise, Wesley shows us the Way of the Owl -- the way to God and grace. This book is destined to become a classic, and will deepen importantly the way we understand birds." -- Sy Montgomery, author of "The Good Good Pig"On Valentine's Day 1985, biologist Stacey O'Brien first met a four-day-old baby barn owl -- a fateful encounter that would turn into an astonishing 19-year saga. With nerve damage in one wing, the owlet's ability to fly was forever compromised, and he had no hope of surviving on his own in the wild. O'Brien, a young assistant in the owl laboratory at Caltech, was immediately smitten, promising to care for the helpless owlet and give him a permanent home. Wesley the Owl is the funny, poignant story of their dramatic two decades together.

With both a tender heart and a scientist's eye, O'Brien studied Wesley's strange habits intensively and first-hand -- and provided a mice-only diet that required her to buy the rodents in bulk (28,000 over the owl's lifetime). As Wesley grew, she snapped photos of him at every stage like any proud parent, recording his life from a helpless ball of fuzz to a playful, clumsy adolescent to a gorgeous, gold-and-white, ma << less