"Oh!! You collect Owls do you ???"

No, we don't collect owls, people give us Owls ! It started when we were living in England and on the way home from Night Shift I found a Little Owl that had been injured by a car, left wing and eye. Took him (he could have been a She !!) home and put him in the cupboard under the stairs to get over the shock . Next day he was hungry and very demanding, we fed him on minced beef wrapped in Afghan Hound hair or Sheeps wool, and he became a family pet.We named him "Olly"!! Lived in the house, ate anything, beetles, dead mice, worms, all went down, usually in one piece!
When he was recovered I took him into the field behind our house for flying lessons, after the initial suprise he began to flap his wings and within a few days was flying small circles around me. I never thought he would return, but when I held my hand up he came straight back. I soon learned to wear leather gloves as his claws were like needles. He liked to sit on my shoulder when I went out and I would go shopping with him , or one day I took him to the Primary School so the children could see and touch him, they loved it !!
Good things come to an end and I got a visit from the local Bird Warden who told me we weren't allowed to keep a "Bird of Prey"without a Licence. So he went off to the Nature Reserve and went Wild. He did come back to visit , but would not land on my hand anymore, lovely while he was with us though...