Customer Reviews

Wesley the Owl: The Remarkable Love Story of an Owl and His Girl

5 star:		(154)
4 star:		(33)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Working as a student researcher at CalTech, Stacey O'Brien brought a four-day-old owlet home from the lab and named him Wesley. For the next nineteen years, he would be her constant companion and beloved friend. This is a beautiful memoir about the relationship that O'Brien and Wesley developed. O'Brien writes not only as Wesley's besotted owner, but also from the perspective of a biologist, which gives the book a depth and authority that a lot of "my beloved pet" stories lack. This book was fascinating, filled to the brim with exciting facts about owls, but also some very funny anecdotes - such as when Wesley decided that he wanted to learn to swim. It was a really moving, lovely book, and everyone I recommended it to has loved it.

Biologist Stacey O'Brien was working at an owl lab at CalTech in 1985 when a four-day-old baby barn owl with a permanently nerve damaged wing arrived at the lab. O'Brien promised to take care of the owlet, and this book is a journal of the 19 years (and 28,000 live mice) they spent together.

O'Brien is a scientist and a humanist, and her book is a wonderful account of the relationship as seen from both points of view. For example, this extract is from the first chapter as it appears on the Simon and Schuster website:

"Another attribute that makes owls unique is their brain structure, which is completely different from that of most vertebrates. The barn owl's cortex is mostly dedicated to processing sound rather than visual images. I wondered how that would affect the way the owl interacted with me and my visually oriented domestic world. He must have a very different viewpoint, foreign to us.... [It] would be challenging to learn to live with this nonsocial animal. Owls don't stay in flocks, but individuals are devoted to their mates, living a mostly solitary life together.

"Not only are owls interesting creatures historically and physiologically, but their temperament is also unique. Owls are playful and inquisitive. A friend of mine knew someone who had rescued a little screech owl and she described it as acting like a kitten with wings. She said the owl would fly up, then pounce on all kinds of objects exactly as a kitten does. Owls could also be creative. Sometimes I'd be walking by an office in the Caltech Owl Lab and see an owl making up his own game -- throwing a pencil off a desk just to watch it fall and roll on the floor, then flying off the desk himself, twisting in the air to get a good angle, then pouncing on the pencil."

O'Brien has promised to maintain a blog devoted to the book, to Wesley and his memory, and the growth in our understanding of animal intelligence: "The owl's brain is very complex and scientists are starting to realize that many species of birds are so highly intelligent that they rival the intelligence of apes and small children. The most famous of these birds is, of course, Alex the African Gray, may he rest in peace. Ravens and crows have been found to be toolmakers and problem solvers who do not even need trial and error to figure out solutions to problems. And, dare I say it, Wesley showed a similar level of intelligence. I'm looking forward to discussing these matters and many others in this blog."

I'm looking forward to following along; her analysis of Bernd Heinrich's Mind of the Raven: Investigations and Adventures with Wolf-Birds is particularly fine.

And she's not forgetting Wesley, of course. Neither will I.


Robert C. Ross 2008

I can't add much to what the other reviewers have already said. If you're an animal lover of any stripe then Wesley the Owl is a book you'll want to spend some time with. Stacey O'Brien's love and affection for her friend Wesley comes out on every page. Animal friends have much to offer their human companions though I've never thought much about birds as pets that can actually offer companionship. That was my ignorance operating and Ms O'Brien has set me straight. Thank you Stacey.

If you have children read Wesley to them and experience the book as a family. You won't regret it.

Peace always

Many (to me) little known facts and observations are contained in this first-person narrative of a biologist's loving care of a 4-day-old barn owl, Wesley, who became her main companion for the 19 years of his life. Detailed descriptions of Wesley's behavior and vocalizations are fascinating, even to the lay person. This relatively short and engaging read includes photos of Wesley, a very cute bird.

Stacey O'Brien does a commendable job describing the fascinating and lovable Wesley's actions in human terms, but not being anthropomorphic. As a scientist, I was fascinated by the richness of detail from this woman's 19 year saga. As one who shares life with two brilliant parrots, I cannot agree more about the depth of experience looking into a wild bird's eyes and bonding such that only death will separate you.

The Way of the Owl is the Way of the Macaw as well.

Readers of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy and Christopher Paolini's Inheritance Cycle will note more similarities in the human-'animal' relationship set forth here in chapter after fascinating chapter. They teach us more than they learn from us. They wait, sometimes impatiently, for us to catch up with them.

The author's recounting Wesley's ongoing narratives of their life is spot-on. Birds whose life you share do this, for the sheer joy of it, for creativity and self expression. For reasons we can never know. They are the most giving, sharing creatures. And as for welcomes home...your dog will show she's glad to see you, but your bird will tell you how glad, and all that she's been thinking and feeling and doing while you were apart.

Read Wesley the Owl, and know that all creatures are conscious. All creatures. You will cry at the end, and afterward just thinking about it. Then you will run to every precious animal that blesses your life and, through tears, tell them how wonderful they are. And they will understand.

I normally choose non-fiction and, while this story is true, it almost reads like a novel. In this case, that was a strength. I like that the author started at the beginning and I didn't learn how or when Wesley died until near the end. In Alex and Me, it started after he died, before I cared about him or had bonded with him. I much preferred to follow Wesley's life in pretty much its actual order. I was impressed with the compassion and caring shown by the scientists with whom the author worked, and I found the details of their work very interesting. I also absolutely fell in love with Wesley - his personality, he curiosity, his sense of loyalty and fun. I was melancholy for a couple of days after I finished the book, realizing he was no longer in the world enriching it with his presence.

While I don't believe the average person should take in a wild animal, I disagree with the reviewer who felt Wesley should have either been released back to the wild to die young, due to his nerve-damaged wing, or killed as a baby. How the world would have been diminished if he hadn't been alive in it for 19 years!! How much we would not have learned about owls and their intelligence and their capacity to love and learn! I don't find anything "humane" about euthanizing a baby rather than allowing a loving professional to raise it and allow it a really full life. Because the author is a professional, she was able to record information and owl communication that other scientists would never have had access to otherwise. And, not only was Wesley allowed to enjoy a full life, but the author's life was enriched by their relationship, and the lives of everyone who reads their story are also enriched by it. The more opportunities we have to experience deep human-animal relationships, the more humane we become as a human species.

My only criticism of the book is that I would have liked to have seen color pictures of Wesley as an adult, as the author described his coloring so well and it sounded striking. Also, it would have been nice to have had the pictures in chronological order, and to have included some pictures of his later life.

I have recommended this book to many people who I know love animals and who believe, as I do, that they are much more intelligent and experience more genuine emotions than many people give them credit for. I feel blessed to have learned of Wesley and shared his story.

I wish there were more stars to give this book! I was caught from the first page by this wonderful story. How I admire this young woman for her bravery, caring, kindness, intelligence, work ethics, and on and on! I fell in love with Wesley! And, as Stacey said would happen, I cried when he died. Oh, yes!! There is a heaven for our wonderful animal loves - and we will see them again. It's just the getting on without them that is hard. I still tear up over my beautiful Juanita, gone 2 years now. I recommend this book for anyone - not just animal lovers. Everyone will read about a true love between beings that is so life confirming. Bless you, Stacey, for sharing!

Stacey, thank you for sharing Wesley with the world. You are a lucky woman to have had such a wonderful and loving friend. You mentioned that Wesley may have been an angel but I truly believe that you were his!

The book is amazing; I couldn't put it down. Stacey's style of writing is from the heart. If you love animals, this is a must read.

As both an animal lover in general and as someone who's worked closely with raptors, including owls, I found Wesley and Stacey's 'love story' to be both charming and, at the same time, a pretty realistic account of the time, effort and devotion it takes to hand raise and live with an essentially wild animal. It also serves as a cautionary tale for those who would try doing something like this with no training or education in dealing with the needs of these extraordinary creatures. Reading about Wesley brought back wonderful memories for me of owls I've known and loved but it's a great book for anyone who loves animals be they furred, feathered or scaled.

Unconditional love is what the author gives her companion owl. And, he, in turn, gives her his whole heart and soul. She writes that gazing into his eyes affords her a deep sense of spiritual connection. The owl accepts the author as his one and only mate (owls mate for life). He entices her into his special nest which he has prepared by lining the space in back of her toilet with shredded magazines. He calls his mating call which is loud and sounds like a roaring air conditioner. And then he brings her dead mice which he insists that she eat (she has to pretend to consume them and secretly hide them) because she presumably is eating for two. Even when he accidentally punctures her skin with his talons and attacks her human boyfriends, Stacey forgives him because predators do not understand punishment. Stacey is all-accepting when it comes to her companion. There are numerous examples of tolerance greater than I could show starting with being awakened every couple of hours at night (owls are nocturnal)-- once by having a mouse pushed into her mouth in Wesley's loving attempt to nourish his beloved with his favorite treat.
This is a special book about a special couple. Even though the relationship consists of two members of different species, they are as close as many married couples. (Closer, probably.) At the end of Wesley's life, Stacey is able to persuade him to submit to having his beak and talons filed. She describes her reasons for considering this communication telepathic. And later, when the author becomes so ill and disabled that she considers suicide, it is her relationship that ultimately enables her to triumph over illness.
I laughed, I cried, I was comforted. I, too, am nursing an ill loved one. The author's book comforted me and lent me the fortitude to endure. Truly, love conquers all.