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| CAPTAIN MIDNIGHT is probably one of the most well-known Great Horned Owls in the North State, and part of a spectacular wildlife program that entertained and educated thousands of people every year. He represents a most skilled nocturnal hunter, a species that has been accurately referred to as "TIGERS OF THE NIGHT" Having been found by well-meaning wood cutters who felled his nest tree and crushed his little sister owlet, he spent his early weeks in a box on someone's televison set. A diet of chicken wings and hamburger not only stunted his growth, but gave him a disabling disease that left his soft bones deformed. After being rescued, he then spent weeks in leg splints. While his legs eventually straightened, they were never strong. His wings were so brittle that the tips frequently broke. He had to have one wing amputated, and therefore could never return to live out his long life in the freedom that is the birthright of every wild animal. Thus it was that he became a part of the Wildlife Educational Program, and every spring served as a surrogate parent and role model for orphaned owlets. Young owlets grow so fast, that it is extremely difficult to meet their dietary needs. Their nutrition is complicated and best left to their own parents. If this isn't possible, the next best alternative, which is also the only legal one, is for an orphaned owlet (or any wild animal, including songbirds) to be raised by licensed wild animal rehabilitation professionals. Great Horned Owls, called "Bubo Pacifica" in the northwest, are the strongest of all the birds of prey, and in captivity have lived to be almost forty years old. A fully mature bird is able to pick up and fly off with prey that outweighs them three times over. In California, Great Horned Owls do not build a nest of their own. Laying their eggs many weeks before the migrating raptors arrive, the owls take over the nests of large hawks, causing the hawks to rebuild their own nests elsewhere. Captain Midnight was named as a young owlet by members of the Whitmore 4-H Wildlife Rehabilitation Project. These bright young people also rehabilitated other owls and hawks, including a Red Tailed Hawk they called "Fern" that was rescued when firefighters found her severely burned in a forest fire that destroyed 7,000 acres and nearly thirty homes in the Whitmore area The "Captain" now resides with Shasta Wildilfe Rescue |
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| Midnight visits Mrs. Harmon's first grade class at Tracy Elementary school in Baldwin Park, California. |
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| Tickling the owl whiskers |
| Showing his one wing |