this post was submitted on 19 Jan 2026
95 points (100.0% liked)
Superbowl
5503 readers
168 users here now
For owls that are superb.
Please scroll down to read our community rules.
US Wild Animal Rescue Database: Animal Help Now
International Wildlife Rescues: RescueShelter.com
Australia Rescue Help: WIRES
Germany-Austria-Switzerland-Italy Wild Bird Rescue: wildvogelhilfe.org
If you find an injured owl:
Note your exact location so the owl can be released back where it came from. Contact a licensed wildlife rehabilitation specialist to get correct advice and immediate assistance.
Minimize stress for the owl. If you can catch it, toss a towel or sweater over it and get it in a cardboard box or pet carrier. It should have room to be comfortable but not so much it can panic and injure itself. If you can’t catch it, keep people and animals away until help can come.
Do not give food or water! If you feed them the wrong thing or give them water improperly, you can accidentally kill them. It can also cause problems if they require anesthesia once help arrives, complicating procedures and costing valuable time.
If it is a baby owl, and it looks safe and uninjured, leave it be. Time on the ground is part of their growing up. They can fly to some extent and climb trees. If animals or people are nearby, put it up on a branch so it’s safe. If it’s injured, follow the above advice.
For more detailed help, see the OwlPages Rescue page.
Community Rules:
Posts must be about owls. Especially appreciated are photographs (not AI) and scientific content, but artwork, articles, news stories, personal experiences and more are welcome too.
Be kind. If a post or comment bothers you, or strikes you as offensive in any way, please report it and moderators will take appropriate action.
AI is discouraged. If you feel strongly that the community would benefit from a post that involves AI you may submit it, but it might be removed if the moderators feel that it is low-effort or irrelevant.
Also visit our twinned community for wholesome content:
!wholesome@reddthat.com
)
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
My cats were all over the place with what they would or wouldn't eat. One really loved donuts and we really had to work to keep him out of them. Some of the others wouldn't touch human food.
I've noticed some of the wild animals have food preferences, but they are all our patients, so we have a responsibility to only give them stuff they are supposed to have. I don't know how different the rules are with the educational animals, as they are a little different and I don't work with them, but for us to care for the injured animals, our goal has to remain 100% to getting them back to the wild and into their natural environment. Getting them used to any people type foods would only encourage them to live closer to people, which is usually what got them hurt to start with.
I was thinking about this some the other day when someone mentioned Harry Potter in one of the Snowy posts and I was reading some of the Hedwig scenes and it talked about her liking to snack on toast and how that didn't seem like a very owlish snack. When you have to swallow things whole, dry toast doesn't sound like the best food.
Honestly I'm not even sure how eating straight carbs or fats would work with their digestive systems being so much different than ours are, especially since they don't typically drink and get most of their water through their prey's water content. Eating a bunch of dry stuff might cause them some distress. Owl stomach acid is also very weak, so I don't know how much variation on diet they could accommodate with that too.
Hmmm. Ok, so... you're saying milkshakes?
I've read bird palettes tend to be limited. It's why you can put ceyenne in suet to kepp squirrels out of it, but birds will still eat it: þey don't taste capsicum very well.
I always wonder if the cayenne still burns their little butts. After rehabbing so many dang squirrels, I'm not about to mess with them either.
Owls eating the skunks prove to me enough they have no real sense of taste! 🤢