From Center for Wildlife
Gaia and Galileo have laid their first eggs of 2026!
This sweet, permanently injured ambassador couple have been a bonded pair at CFW since Gaia's arrival in 2011. We are honored to report that Gaia and several of our other female ambassadors lay eggs each year, which is a sign of their health, low stress levels, appropriate nutrition and access to sunlight. The eggs are not fertile, and due to Gaia and Galileo's injuries, it is virtually impossible for them to achieve fertility. Although we have never seen any fertilized eggs from our ambassadors, we always candle our ambassador's eggs first to be sure - checking the eggs in the dark by holding a light up to them to look for a yolk sac indicating fertilization. Once the eggs are confirmed infertile, we hollow them out and use them as educational tools!
Although the eggs that Gaia and Galileo produced weren't viable - try telling them that! They maintain all their wild instincts to fiercely protect their babies, but we can't let infertile eggs sit in their enclosures where they will eventually go bad. So, our ambassador caretakers must embark on an intimidating expedition..
They must "Indiana Jones-style" switch the eggs out for lacrosse balls! That way, Gaia can feel like a good mother warming her eggs, while we don't have to leave any real eggs in there to become rotten. While a caretaker takes Gaia for a walk and weight check, another staff member swaps out the eggs. Allowing them to go through the motions of nesting, laying and incubating eggs allows them to go through their natural cycles and processes, something we always try to foster with their outdoor enclosures and habitat setups. Once her maternal hormones have subsided, we can safely remove her "eggs" (lacrosse ball babies), and she can return happily to her child-free life until next year's breeding season!
Good job Gaia and Galileo!
Omg that sounds like quite a lot and I'm so sorry for Steve and Harry.
Maybe it's even better to work with plushie and foam core owls, leaving possibly stressed out owls out of the equation. But i also have no idea what i'm talking about, do some owls actually enjoy the attention?
I'm also threading a hard path in the last months and costs are the main villain in all this.
No doubt it will turn out great - Godspeed!
I appreciate your sympathy. Harry and Steve had nice long lives, and I have pics from about 8 years ago when I first met them, so I'm sure they've inspired many people to learn about and help out owls. I'm happy for the time we've had with them and that they got to live well until their health declined naturally and they got a peaceful end. ❤️
I'm mainly bummed out for my own selfish reason. I wanted to hang out with the owl on my arm all day, dang it! It would have been nice to show off their gyroscopic head and their beautiful eyes, but I'm sure the owls enjoy it as much as we enjoy going to our jobs. We put up with it when we have to so we can earn our keep. The models and specimens are better for getting up close and hands on, since the public can't handle the birds, but nothing can replace the presence that even a small owl has.
Our violent GHO is somewhat imprinted, which is why he failed his release, but even it thinking it's at least a portion human, that sense of humanity it has is not very widespread. It's limited to a small handful of people that are his primary caretakers. Harry and Steve were more wild, coming to our clinic as adults that were in accidents, so their minds were all owl, but they were just both varying degrees calmer in demeanor. Even with their much simpler brains, all the birds I meet display such unique degrees of emotion, security, and personality. That's even with us doing our best to keep them wild and not "make friends" with them, as that goes against our licensed mission.
Good luck with your challenges as well! The owl photos and stories and myself are always here when you need some positive support!
Thank you and i know, you're already very successful in doing just that :3
I don't have experience with owls, but i can say the same from the crows in my neighborhood. There were a few that kept coming to my balcony a while back. Once they feel safe, the curiosity shows.