The effort to get the owl on campus was led by Assistant Professor of Captive Wildlife Care and Education Cheryl Frederick. After many months of working to get the required federal level of permitting for the College, the owl arrived on campus last month. The transition has gone very smoothly and owl is doing very well. There are now plans to get a second owl next summer. Unfortunately, many small owls are injured by cars, cats, or other human causes. These animals can’t be released back into the wild and need to be placed in a professional facility.

Unity College has a small, curated selection of animals on campus which demonstrates the College’s commitment to the teaching of best practices in animal husbandry. The recent acquisition of the owl adds an important dimension to one of Unity’s most popular programs, and provides additional animal resources available to students.

“Having an owl as part of our collection on campus will be great for demonstrating handling and training of a raptor, as even a tiny owl shows the behaviors and has the same husbandry needs as larger raptor species,” said Frederick. “Of course our Captive Wildlife Care and Education classes will benefit from having the owl on campus, but like the other residents of the animal room she will be a living example and an educational asset to ‘–ology’ and other courses serving students and faculty across a number of majors.”

Students at Unity College learn to identify, understand, manage, care for, and educate about wildlife. Our latest addition to the campus animal collection fits with our commitment to this type of hands-on learning opportunities.

Be sure and submit your idea for the owl’s name on the Unity College Facebook page beginning at 9 a.m. on April 16 through Thursday, April 17 at 3 p.m.

Monday, April 14, 2014