Wesley: The Story Of A Remarkable Owl
By (Author) Stacey O'Brien
Transworld Publishers (Division of Random House Australia)
Bantam
1st July 2009
Australia
General
Non Fiction
Domestic animals and pets
598
Paperback
240
Width 135mm, Height 214mm, Spine 15mm
192g
When biologist Stacey O'Brien met a four-day-old baby barn owl, little did she know that this fateful encounter would turn into an astonishing 19-year saga. With nerve damage in one wing, the owlet had no hope of surviving on his own in the wild. O'Brien was immediately smitten, promising to care for the helpless owlet and give him a permanent home. With both a tender heart and a scientist's eye, O'Brien records his life from a helpless ball of fuzz to a playful, clumsy adolescent to a gorgeous, gold-and-white adult owl with a heart-shaped face. Their bond deepens as she discovers Wesley's outsize personality, subtle emotions and playful nature. When O'Brien develops her own life-threatening illness, the biologist is rescued from death by the insistent love and courage of this wild animal. Wesley the Owl is a thoroughly engaging, heart-warming, often funny story of a complex, emotional, non-human being capable of reason, play, and, most important, love and loyalty.
Stacey O'Brien is trained as a biologist specialising in wild-animal behaviour. She graduated from Occidental College with a BS in biology and continued her education at Caltech. She now works as a wildlife rescuer and rehabilitation expert with a variety of local animals, including the endangered brown pelican, owls, seabirds, possums, and songbirds. She lives in Southern California.