We all know that throughout history owls have been renowned as creatures of wisdom, but Louie's flight into a fly glue trap was not such a wise move …The unfortunate owl became firmly stuck on the hanging trap designed for flies and mosquitoes and, had it not been for a kind human who brought him along to Animal Tracks, he certainly would have perished there.
Parts of Goa are still steeped in folklore and tradition and the haunting call of a male owl, or, as they are locally known, “ghughum”, is believed to be a premonition of the birth of a boy child or herald misfortune or even death to someone close by. When hearing the owl cry certain local people say the silent prayer "I believe" in order to avert the bad omen. Or others will throw salt into a fire in the hope that the owl will get a sore tongue and hoot no more. So because of fear and superstition sadly the presence of these beautiful birds is often unwelcome despite them being a natural form of vermin control.
Even more bizarre human behaviour and another Goan remedy believed to avoid impending trouble after hearing an owl is to remove all your clothes, turn them inside out then get dressed again.... perhaps not to be advised in public! And people think we dogs have strange habits!Thankfully it's just humans that have such odd ideas and most of us animals just live in the present and are grateful to have a helping human hand from time to time when the unexpected occurs.
It's always a worry that wild birds will simply go into shock and die after a trauma so no time was wasted. The glue was gently removed with extreme care so as to not damage Louie's feathers or cause him more stress. Gradually he was cleaned and his plumage restored to its former glory.
So fortunately this particular ghughum's gummed encounter turned out well in the end thanks to help from the IAR team. Aren’t they just the best!
That’s all for now.
Love Olive x
