Wesley the Owl
The Remarkable Love Story of an Owl and His Girl
-
-
4.7 • 181 Ratings
-
-
- $14.99
Publisher Description
This New York Times bestseller is a “sweet, quirky memoir” (USA TODAY) about a biologist and the baby barn owl that changed her life.
On Valentine’s Day 1985, biologist Stacey O’Brien adopted Wesley, a baby barn owl with an injured wing who could not have survived in the wild. Over the next nineteen years, O’Brien studied Wesley’s strange habits with both a tender heart and a scientist’s eye—and provided a mice-only diet that required her to buy the rodents in bulk. She watched him turn from a helpless fluff ball into an avid communicator with whom she developed a language all their own. Eventually he became a gorgeous, gold-and-white macho adult with a heart-shaped face who preened in the mirror and objected to visits by any other males to “his” house.
In this “honest, vivid, and revealing account” (Sy Montgomery, author of The Soul of an Octopus), O’Brien also brings us inside Caltech’s prestigious research community where resident owls sometimes flew freely from office to office and eccentric, brilliant scientists were extraordinarily committed to studying and helping animals. As O’Brien gets close to Wesley, she makes astonishing discoveries about owl behavior, intelligence, and communication, coining the term “The Way of the Owl” to describe his noble behavior. When O’Brien develops her own life-threatening illness, the biologist who saved the life of a helpless baby bird is herself rescued from death by the insistent love and courage of this wild animal.
Enhanced by wonderful photographs, Wesley the Owl is a thoroughly engaging, heartwarming, often funny story of a complex, emotional, non-human being capable of reason, play, love, and loyalty.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Owls permeate literature and mythology, an ancient animal ("some 97 million years" old) that has fascinated for centuries; still, few people have had as intimate an encounter with the mysterious night birds as biologist O'Brien. As a student researcher at Caltech, she fell in love with an injured four-day-old barn owl and seized the opportunity to adopt him permanently. She named him Wesley, and for 19 years kept, cared for and studied him, forging a tremendous relationship with the still-wild animal, as well as a vast understanding of his abilities, instincts and habits: "He was my teacher, my companion, my child, my playmate, my reminder of God." Her heartwarming story is buttressed by lessons on owl folklore, temperament ("playful and inquisitive"), skills, and the brain structure that gives them some amazing abilities, like spotting a mouse "under three feet of snow by homing in on just the heartbeat." It also details her working life among fellow scientists, a serious personal health crisis, and the general ins and outs of working with animals. This memoir will captivate animal lovers and, though not necessarily for kids, should hold special appeal for Harry Potter fans who've always envied the boy wizard his Hedwig.
Customer Reviews
Heartfelt and genuine
I am an animal lover and a geek about science. Working in the health industry, I also know what it is to give your heart and soul to other beings and their needs. This story was beautiful and enriching. I told my husband: some people read romance novels-I love a book like this- scientifically educational and emotionally charged. I learned a lot and loved every minute of it.
Wonderful
Great book well done
Marvelous!
What an incredible story. Stacey’s experience proved that the connection I have with my 17 year old cat is legitimate, not an effort to “humanize” my perceptions. Thank you, Stacey, for a lovely portrayal of your experience.