Howie

Florida?s largest owl, standing more than two feet tall (61 cm) tall, the Great Horned Owl is fairly common throughout the state. This striking-looking owl has large yellow eyes and ear tufts, They eat a huge variety of prey from rats and rabbits to skunks, opossums, egrets, turkeys and other owls. There is even an observation of them eating recently hatched loggerhead turtles at Vero Beach. The Great Horned Owl is the most common owl of the Americas, easily recognizable because of the almost cat like ears, which are really feather tufts on its head. Great horned owls have thick legs and heavy talons. The crushing power in a Great Horned's talons is reputed to be an incredible 500lbs. per square inch, ten times stronger than the grip of a human hand, so once the talons sink through the prey?s back, most prey are killed instantly.

Howie lives at the Ocala Wild Life Sanctuary with Keith Belisle, president of Owls-Ocala Inc. and his partner, Kenneth Lane. He was rescued after someone cut off one of his wings with a machete when he got caught in some fence wire. Howie loves Keith, who is an American Indian, a member of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians and has an amazing rapport with animals of all kinds. This enormously strong bird of prey lies upside down in Keith?s arms, his enormous talons in the air, and his eyelids drooping, perfectly relaxed and happy. Thanks you Keith and Kenny for the work you do with all these abused and suffering birds.