rehab: the story of the eagle owl "troland"

9 March 2016
The stay is going towards an end. I hope to move the Owl within a few days. Then it will come in a larger cage, where it can train its wing musculature for some time before being ringed and released. Ths mouse situation in my garden has become good again. Three trapped with four traps yeasterday, and a single one today. Nice snacks for "Troland".
Wood Mice Apodemus sylvaticus are most appreciated as breakfast for "Troland" the Eagle Owl. It is funny to see how the Owl always want to place the head in the bill first. Then it crunches the skull before swallowing the mouse in one piece.
29 Fabruary 2016
The Mute Swan is going towards an end. The large bird has been well accepted by the Eagle Owl, and most of it has been consumed by now. It is impressive to see how all bits of the bird has been eaten, and all the bones are empty of flesh. As time goes "Troland" becomes more and more aggressive to me in posture and sounds. Thankful bird...
18 February 2016
​"Troland" has not moved since yesterday. It is still sitting steadily on its new food resource, the Mute Swan. She has eaten quite a bit so far, especially parts of the upper breast, neck and head. It looks like the head/skull was the first thing she ate. I suppose bran mass is a delicacy for the majestetic owl.
16 February 2016
After having spent the night inside the house, I moved "Troland" to its outside cage this afternoon. The cage was cleaned, and all the ground got a new cover of woodchips. Yesterday I got hold of a dead Mute Swan, and the large bird was put inside the cage. "Troland" jumped right down on the swan, and started ripping of feathers. I pulled back, and did not visit the bird later this day.
15 february 2016
Having a bath...
10 February 2016
Late last night we got a message saying that the Eagle Owl was searched for and found during the afternoon. That was great news! We went to the island where it was found and picked it up at the head-mesters home. Her family had put the Owl in a cage, and fed it well with Red Deer meat. The bird looked a lot better already, compared to the initial picture from yesterday (see below). However, when examining the bird I found that the underside (belly and breast) and wings were heavily stained with some fatty ingredient.
We brought the Eagle Owl, now named "Troland" after the school and site where it was found, to my home in Bergen. The first thing I had to do was try to clean the bird. It was hard doing this by myself, but I managed to get rid of quite a bit of the fatty substance on the wings. After a bit of towel drying, the bird was dried further with a hair-dryer, and it seemed it was quite a pleasant treat.