Scales an Tales

Written By: Alyssa Ballard

English 336.001

At the wonderful Appalachian Festival held on Saturday September 17, 2011, the weather was a bit chilly, but not chilly enough to keep these little critters away. Katy and Marie, all though they did not divulge their last names, have been working with Rocky Gap State Park for quite some time. Marie started working there as a summer job a few years back and finally got a full job offer in May of this year after graduating from WVU with a degree in forestry. Katy started working there in January of this year as an internship, and she stayed after receiving her degree from Frostburg State University in Recreation. Katy says it's "the best job I've had yet".

On the left is Katy presenting a Barred Owl. According to Katy this owl can no longer survive in the wild because he has been raised in an apartment in Baltimore after being rescued by a hiker. He had attempted to fly to early and fell out of the nest. "He hasn't been exposed to real nature" says Katy, and "therefore he is unable to tell whether another creature is a threat or not. " The hiker that found him attempted to keep him in her home for a while, and soon after she figured out that he eats mice, she tried to breed them herself. Suffice to say, it did not work out. So she took the little bird over to Rocky Gap and they have been caring for him ever since.

On the right Marie is presenting a full grown male screech owl. This owl was hit by a car on it's way down to pick up a mouse that was eating an apple core someone threw out of their car. Many owls are hit by cars because the mice they try to get are by the side of the road eating scraps people throw out of their car windows. Screech owls can come in 2 color phases, grey or red (rufus). "He weighs about the same as a hot dog without the bun" says Marie. Screech owls like to live in woodpecker holes in trees, and love to eat mice.

After Marie's presentation of the Screech owl, Katy presented the great horned owl to us, and he was missing a wing. This owl was hunting for food when he flew over a chicken coup, and decided that he would start taking back chickens for his mate. The farmer started to notice that his chickens were missing, and so he sat out on his porch waiting for the owl to come back. When he did, the farmer shot him in the wing. The damage to the wing was so extensive that it had to be removed. This bird was protected under the migratory bird treaty act, and when the police officers asked the farmer if he shot him, the farmer said yes and was then "slapped with a two to three thousand dollar fine" says Katy. The wingspan of a great horned owl can be about 4-5ft, and he can weigh up to 5 pounds. He is able to lift 3 times his weight. The great horned owl also has no sense of smell, and he loves to eat skunks.

Then both of the presenters proceeded to present a turtle that lost his leg when he was run over by a lawn mower, and a snake that was beaten up by some kids throwing rocks and sticks at him.