by Walter Horylev
It felt so sooo soft, like someone taking a swipe at me with a feather duster, but these were the three foot wings of a Eurasian Owl constantly brushing my hair from behind and above while trying to get his balance.
I was holding the owl on my left hand, using the heavy leather glove supplied by Paul Schnell. He had wrapped the tether around the fingers of my left hand; I held the end of the tether in my right hand; Goliath was only inches away from my face. My main concern was that he not think my nose was a mouse!
Earlier I had seen Anne, Paul’s wife, offering him a previously frozen mouse and he swallowed it in one gulp. (He eats 5-6 mice each day). He was surprisingly light, having weighed in earlier in the day at 2140 grams, about 4-3/4 pounds. The only owl larger in adult size is the Blakistan Fish Owl, found in Russia.
As Paul instructed, I held my left arm against my body and extended my left forearm out, parallel to the ground, giving Goliath a base to sit on. When I rotated my forearm slightly, he beat his long wings trying to get stable again. He soon calmed down and Paul took quite a few pictures up close; he is an accomplished nature photographer. It was exciting to be so close to such a beautiful bird; it should add a tremendous asset to Paul’s shows.
“Every night we bring Goliath into our home and “play” with him,” Paul said. We are training him to be comfortable with people and to fly to one of us for food. But, it is a slow process.” He explained: “Owls are difficult to train; they are notoriously slow to learn. We really want a bird that can be handled by people at our presentations.”
This Eurasian Eagle Owl, an owl native to Europe, Asia and Africa, was purchased from Tom Cullen, Goshen, NY, on July 13 when the bird was six weeks old. Goliath will mature in about three years.
Paul and Anne put on Birds of Prey shows for the Institute of Environmental Learning (he is the founder and director) at schools and the Braddock Bay Park. They have been giving programs and banding birds at the Braddock Bay Park for the past 25 years; many people are familiar with his shows featuring Liberty, an American Golden Eagle. They also present many other wildlife programs. (For information, visit www.ielraptors.org).
Both Paul and Anne work full time, Anne is a professor and chairperson of the Environmental Conservation program at Finger Lakes Community College, and they spend about two hours every day, seven days a week, taking care of their birds, most of whom have been injured in some way. They currently have 16 birds in large pens on their property in Parma, near the Hamlin Parkway, and their lot is a certified wildlife habitat.
Unfortunately, the Schnell’s will be moving to Arizona around the end of May 2015 and taking their birds with them. According to Paul: “Arizona is a birder’s paradise and we’ll be living closer to Anne’s parents. In addition, I strongly oppose the passing of the N.Y. Safe Act and do not like the lousy business climate in this state.”
