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    Wesley the Owl: The Remarkable Love Story of an Owl and His Girl
    Wesley the Owl: The Remarkable Love Story of an Owl and His Girl
    Wesley the Owl: The Remarkable Love Story of an Owl and His Girl
    Audiobook6 hours

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

    Written by Stacey O'Brien

    Narrated by Renee Raudman

    4.5/5

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    About this audiobook

    On Valentine's Day 1985, biologist Stacey O'Brien met a four-day-old baby barn owl-a fateful encounter that would turn into an astonishing nineteen-year saga. With nerve damage in one wing, the owlet's ability to fly was forever compromised, and he had no hope of surviving on his own in the wild. O'Brien, a young assistant in the owl laboratory at Caltech, was immediately smitten, promising to care for the helpless owlet and give him a permanent home. Wesley the Owl is the funny, poignant story of their dramatic two decades together.

    With both a tender heart and a scientist's eye, O'Brien studied Wesley's strange habits intensively-and provided a mice-only diet that required her to buy the rodents in bulk (28,000 over the owl's lifetime). As Wesley grew, O'Brien snapped photos of him at every stage like any proud parent, recording his life from a helpless ball of fuzz to a playful, clumsy adolescent to a gorgeous, gold-and-white, macho adult owl with a heart-shaped face and an outsize personality that belied his eighteen-inch stature. Stacey and Wesley's bond deepened as she discovered Wesley's individual personality, subtle emotions, and playful nature that could also turn fiercely loyal and protective-though she could have done without Wesley's driving away her would-be human suitors!

    O'Brien also brings us inside the prestigious research community, where resident owls sometimes flew freely from office to office and eccentric, brilliant scientists were extraordinarily committed to studying and helping animals; all of them were changed by the animal they loved. As O'Brien gets close to Wesley, she makes important discoveries about owl behavior, intelligence, and communication, coining the term "The Way of the Owl" to describe his inclinations: he did not tolerate lies, held her to her promises, and provided unconditional love, though he was not beyond an occasional sulk. When O'Brien develops her own life-threatening illness, the biologist who saved the life of a helpless baby bird is herself rescued from death by the insistent love and courage of this wild animal.

    Wesley the Owl is a thoroughly engaging, heartwarming, often funny story of a complex, emotional, nonhuman being capable of reason, play, and, most important, love and loyalty. It is sure to be cherished by animal lovers everywhere.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTantor Media, Inc
    Release dateDec 8, 2008
    ISBN9781400180592

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    Reviews for Wesley the Owl

    4.5/5

    55 ratings42 reviews

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    • 5/5
      What an intelligent , heart warming and touching story about a woman’s deep connection with a barn owl. I loved every minute!
    • 4/5
      As long as you don't expect this book to be like Marley and Me, and you genuinely are curious about owls or birds, you will love this book. It isn't especially funny, and it's full of owl biology, but it's warm and endearing. An easy read and an easy way to learn quite a lot about a fascinating creature.
    • 5/5
      I am a huge barn owl fan, so I knew I had to buy this book as soon as I saw it! I've already adopted a barn owl called Gilbert from the National Falconry School, and see him most weekends at their display outside our bookshop (and yes, I do talk to him!), so a whole book about someone who raised a barn owl from a baby sounded wonderful! Stacey O'Brien's life changed forever the day she was given the opportunity to adopt a baby barn owl from Caltech's owl research department, where she had been working for about a year. The owl was only four days old, looked a bit like a baby dinosaur and hadn't even opened its eyes yet, but she fell head over heels in love and agreed to take it home. Although Wesley had an injured wing and could never be released into the wild, he settled right into life with his new mum. This is their story...Wesley is a wonderful character, and the intense bond between human and owl shines out from every page. I giggled at so many of O'Brien's stories - of Wesley's first attempts to fly and his outrage when she dares to laugh at his tangled crash-landings, of his unprecedented love for water (which gets particularly interesting when he decides he wants to share her bath), of his attempts to woo her by building her nests and trying to feed her mice - and teared up a few times too. O'Brien really knows her stuff, so on top of the Wesley's story there is a whole lot of interesting information about owls, as well as a few wider titbits from the natural sciences as a whole and a tantalising insight into what it's like to work for a big research institute like Caltech. Wesley and Stacey learned a lot from each other over the nineteen years they spent together, and their close partnership helped bring about a new understanding of elements of barn owl life that had never been accessible before. It is a charming, heartwarming and amusing story, as well as an informative look at the world of the barn owl, and it might just be one of my favourite books this year!
    • 4/5
      Describes the fascinating relationship between a female biologist and the injured barn owl who takes her for his lifetime mate. Besides being a moving and emotional memoir of a special 19+ year bond between human and animal, this book presents a lot of interesting information regarding the language/communication capabilities of the animals we share our world with. (I also enjoyed seeing the pictures of Wesley progressing through his various stages of maturity).
    • 4/5
      Wesley the Owl, The Remarkable Love Story of an Owl and His Girl is a heartfelt memoir about a young scientist, Stacey O’Brien and the four-day-old barn owl she adopts and spends almost 20 years with. Wesley teaches Stacey “The Way of the Owl”, which is how Stacey describes his personality. Wesley couldn’t tolerate lies, made sure she kept her promises and loved her unconditionally. The book is part biology text, with fascinating tidbits about owls, their habits and habitats, part humorous essay with stories delineating the differences between poop, sh*t and scat in scientist parlance, but mostly, all heart. Anyone who has ever loved an animal can tell you that they can communicate with us, something that science hasn’t always agreed with. I loved the interaction between owl and human, and the depth that interaction had. The book doesn’t make you want to rush right out and adopt an owl, thank goodness, since this isn’t exactly legal anymore. But it makes you feel a deeper appreciation of the animals in your own lives. It brought back to me the endings of my much loved pets time with me, and made me dread the future when our sweet little Cookie mutt is old. Yet it also makes us aware of how much our animals enrich our lives. If we chose to share our lives with an animal, we have to understand that, with a few exceptions, we’ll eventually lose them to age and death. But we do it anyway, we love our critters, dogs, cats, lizards, spiders, turtles, fish, snakes, birds, hamsters, rats, mice….all of them. If we can treat our “pets” as what they really are to us, loving companions with complex emotions, we’ll all be better people for it. And if we could all live “The Way of the Owl”, we’d have a better world for it.
    • 4/5
      Would you sacrifice your life for bringing up a Barn Owl? It was fascinating to read and Iearned about owls but I am glad it was she and not me. Owl sex, feeding, bonding, ...amazing.
    • 5/5
      Be prepared to fall in love with Wesley the Owl! I'm an animal lover, but I've never before been all that interested in birds. But Wesley is so funny, affectionate, and protective! I just never would have guessed that an owl could have so much personality!The story starts when Wesley, so young his eyes aren't yet open, falls out of his nest and damages his wing so badly that he will never be able to survive in the wild. Stacey O'Brien, a young wildlife biologist, adopts him. Her stories of raising and living with Wesley are heartwarming and often very funny. When he is little she carries him everywhere wrapped in a blanket like a baby to keep him warm. People who coo "Can I see the baby?" are in for a shock! She has many stories of the trouble with keeping enough mice on hand to feed Wesley and what happens when Wesley confronts his first live mouse is hysterical. I laughed more reading this book then I have in a longtime!In the end I learned a lot about barn owls, the most important thing being that they are fascinatng creatures. I listened to this book on audio. Quietly chuckling to myself over Wesley's antics made my workday and household chores fly by. The reader is good and the audio version includes a cd with pictures of Wesley and Stacey. I highly reccomend this book, just be careful, you might find yourself looking for an owl to adopt!
    • 3/5
      If you were considering adopting a barn owl, this book will quickly dissuade you. From snipping off live mouse heads for Wesley's dinner to having a mouse thrust in her mouth by the owl to having Wesley "mate" with her arm, the author's life is turned upside down by her little feathered friend. But he is her friend and they take care of each other for 20 years. This is also a memoir about the author's great friend, some of whom take care of her when she becomes desperately ill. I skipped some of the book because the details of Wesley's physical habitsgrossed me out.
    • 5/5
      I've always been fascinated with owls, and I really liked this book. It not only has funny stories about owls but also teaches the reader a lot of scientific information (not in a boring way). Be warned that the ending is sad though.
    • 4/5
      A great story, full of amusing or touching anecdotes. A lot of the science is highly questionable ("Some researchers are also accumulating empirical evidence that animals use a form of telepathy to communicate with and understand us"). It is never very profound, and the writing is only acceptable. But still, there's lots to learn. The owl Wesley is a real character, for example loving to play in water. > In the wild, the father owl hunts relentlessly. He has to provide approximately six mice per baby per night. The usual brood is five babies. The father also has to feed his mate, who never leaves the nest and eats about three mice per day. And he must feed himself about four mice a day. This adds up to some thirty-seven full-grown mice every night during nesting season.> One afternoon as I took a nap, Wesley was sleeping on his little pillow next to me. In my dreams I felt something soft brushing my face. Next thing I knew a mouse was neatly dropped into my mouth> Wesley made me realize that if all I had to give was love, that was enough. I didn't need money, status, accomplishment, glamour, or many of the empty things we so value.
    • 5/5
      An interesting and touching story. My favourite part of the day was walking absorbed in Stacy and Wesley's world. If you love animals, you will surely love this book. Enjoy!
    • 4/5
      A remarkable story of a young biologist and the barn owl she adopted because it couldn't be released into the wild. You will learn about: barn owls, other critters, biologists, human relationships with animals, devotion (human and animal), communication (various), basement trolls (math physiologists), friendship and trust, love, family, and so much more. Fascinating, with some real life lessons for all of us.
    • 5/5
      I loved this gem of a book. My only complaint is that I wanted to know more: more day-to-day stories about Wesley, more about her romantic relationships (and how he interfered with them!), more about why she had to move all the time. I understand why she limited the focus, and that probably made for a better book, but this just shows how much I enjoyed it.
    • 4/5
      Not just about owls - though the owl stuff is pretty great on its own!
      (Lol!. Guess what's on Nature on PBS right now - Owls!)
    • 4/5
      I am a bird-lover, bird-watcher, and some say, bird-brain. When on a field trip out to one of the plantations, with my son's 3rd grade class, I overheard him tell a classmate who was wondering what type of bird they'd just seen fly overhead, "Ask my mom. She knows her birds." For the past few springs, we've had a pair of screech owls nest near our bedroom window, and they and their offspring put us on the path to The Way of the Owl. Owls abound here by Lake Frances -- I onetime heard the call of 4 different types in the evening. When my cousin came to visit, she brought this book with her, and passed it along to me, knowing my affinity for owls.Wesley was a 4 day old injured fledgling barn owl when Stacey O'Brien, a biologist working with owls at CalTech met him. His injury was such that he could not be habilitated to survive in the wild successfully, and he was placed in Stacey's care. This book is the story of the remarkable relationship that followed over the next 19 years. It's a wonderful story, full of juicy facts for bird lovers, and wonderful stories for animal lovers in general, both heartwarming and heart-breaking. And yes, Wesley dies in the end, but not before surpassing the life expectancy of a barn owl in the wild, which is roughly 15 years. His distinct personality will remain with me as well as much that he and Stacey taught me. I also applaud the author, for she truly reshaped her life around her charge, even though she kept his presence in her life relatively quiet, for fear of activists who were bent on freeing "captured" wild animals setting Wesley loose into a habitat he would have been unable to survive.The tag line for this book is "the remarkable love story of an owl and his girl." I couldn't agree more.
    • 4/5
      Love this book. Provides O'Brien's life as Wesley's "mom," caretaker and "mate" in very readable detail, with some of the basic biology and science that help us understand the what, why and how of barn owls. It was wonderful reading about the bond of love Stacey forms with Wesley and everything she does to nurture the life of a stunningly beautiful animal, very different and yet with some similarities to humans.I particularly enjoyed her description of the dedicated Caltech scientists, researchers and "trolls" who literally give their bodies and souls to the detailed study of many different species of animals, insects, and organisms with whom we share our world. And in return receive little gratitude or pay, except for the love they and their colleagues have for their work. Wesley the Owl teaches us that animals do have souls and the capacity to love. We just need to wise up, recognize the beauty and importance of all creatures and get our priorities straightened out.
    • 4/5
      Did you know that owls smell like maple syrup? That a barn owl consumes approximately 28,000 mice in its lifetime? That owls are the only birds that are completely soundless while in flight? These are just a few of the many things I learned about these magnificent animals.Author Stacey O'Brien is a biologist who learned The Way of the Owl through trial and error. She learned that feeding an owl is expensive and messy. She found out the hard way that once owlets have imprinted with their "mother," they don't take kindly to strangers. Most importantly she learned that a relationship built on trust can be established and maintained between people and wild animals. This is a heartfelt love story of lifelong commitment. Wesley charmed Stacey when he was a 4-day-old bundle of fluff that would never be able to survive in the wild, and he continnued to captivate her for 19 years. He also stole my heart as I read about his antics and devotion to his best friend.
    • 3/5
      not overly well written, but the author had my attention with this amazing relationship. never having seriously considered ever owning i bird, i had NO idea they were so smart and demonstrative. i wish i had known this in high school, i would have been a biologist.
    • 3/5
      A biologist rescues a barn owl that cannot be release into the wild. Interesting details about owl biology & emotional appeal with the bond between owl & human. The author (the biologist) has a bit of a California new age thing going on, I seem to recall, but overall a good story for the animal memoir fan. Not the finest writing, but heartwarming.
    • 5/5
      Laughed out loud, I could just picture the silly antics of Wesley. I learned a lot about owls. This was a fun read.
    • 5/5
      Wonderful story about a how a baby owl became an intricate part of the life of the author. Lots of wonderful and funny stories about how one woman raised a wonderful creature.
    • 4/5
      This is the heartwarming and engaging story of a young biologist who finds herself mother to a tiny, orphaned owl. Over the course of the book she unfolds the relationship between herself and Wesley the Barn Owl, sharing with the reader the ways in which their relationship impacted her life and her beliefs. It confirmed my belief that animals are individual and intelligent souls everybit as important and unique as humans. They are just packaged a little differently. One of the things I found most interesting was that Wesley was able to pick up the concept of time in relation to language. He understood what "two hours" and "tomorrow night" meant. This is remarkable to me.I listened to this title as an audio book, and the narrator did an amazing job, which made all the difference.
    • 5/5
      Wow. Wow, wow, wow. Several people told me this book was amazing, and I'd even read about it months before that and thought it looked interesting, but nothing, and I do mean nothing, prepared me for how much I would learn and be awed by in this book. Every single page taught me some other incredible thing about barn owls (which I promptly shared with whoever was closest to me - I think my husband is sick of barn owl stories at this point, hah!), and although I don't entirely buy all of O'Brien's philosophical speculation in the final chapters, by the end of this book (and Wesley's life - and that's not a spoiler, because all animal books have this at the end) I was bawling like a baby: Out of emotional attachment to the owl I'd just read about, out of a deep sense of loss for the author who'd spent 19 years with this remarkable creature, and out of a sense of amazement and wonder toward one of this earth's creatures that I would have otherwise simply taken for granted.I strongly believe that many people have lost their sense of connection with animals and nature, and take these things for granted. There is an intelligence and personality in so many animals that we interact with or see from afar, on a daily basis, and we think nothing of their presence in our lives. The story of Wesley the owl, and how he learned - interacted - changed - developed - LOVED - and connected with the world around him is truly stunning. You will never look at birds, owls in particular, the same way again, and I hope that this book will help others reconnect with that childlike sense of amazement at the natural world around us.
    • 5/5
      A young Caltech biologist adopts an infant North American barn owl and the nineteen years that she and the owl spend together are magical. Loved this book!!
    • 4/5
      Very touching at times. Stacey's dedication to her little friend is heartwarming, and his adoration of her is obvious. I could have done without some of the disgusting mousey meal preps though.
    • 4/5
      A great read about the close bond of Human and animals- Wesley the owl is such a character - who knew barn owls have such personality! The author has written her story that is heartwarming, without being bogged down in too many details or cuteness. As always, the book ends in sadness, but in a very respectful way to who Wesley was and the readers.
    • 5/5
      An excellent look at a woman's life with her pet owl. This book has a nice mix of science and more personal observations.
    • 5/5
      recommended for: those who like owls, biology, nature, science, biographies, heartwarming & funny storiesWhen several of my Goodreads’ friends claimed that everyone would love this book, I assumed that statement was hyperbole, even though I was interested in reading it, but now I see why they said that. I’m sure there are many readers who, in fact, would not like this book, but I think most people will appreciate and be smitten by it. I’m surprised that there aren’t more 5 star ratings at Goodreads; only 33% gave it 5 stars and only another 37% gave it 4 stars. I loved it and it definitely deserves 5 stars from me.Oh my goodness. This book is written by the niece of Cubby from the original Mouseketeers. ;-) And when she was a child her father was friends with Richard Feynman. And from the age of eight, she regularly heard Jane Goodall speak and was inspired by her.I’m 100% fine with barn owls eating whole mice, no qualms at all, but I’m not destined to be an owl mommy. I couldn’t have taken those thousands of mice (given or alive to be killed) or some of the injuries inflicted. So, I’m glad I got this chance to have some of the experience vicariously through reading this book. As I read a part of me was envious of Stacey but I think as far as sharing my life with animals, dogs and cats are what I long for; if I knew horses they might be included.So much of this book was hilarious, and some was touching. This is such an engaging and delightful account, I could have inhaled the book all at one time; it took me 3 days to read only because I had to (very reluctantly) put it down to do other things.She mentions the word vegan (definitely not for owls!) and one of my all time favorite books Never Cry Wolf, and the Harry Potter books too, the latter several times.It’s generally beautifully written so the rare grammatical error was really glaring, but I happily skipped right over those and didn’t care a whit because the true story was so riveting.I was a bit perplexed a few times, as the author/owl mother seemed to not know certain things about owls but seemed to be learning on the job so much of the time, more as an adoptive mom than as a professional who I’d have thought would know the biology. Once again, I didn’t really care.In addition to Wesley and Stacey’s story, there are many fascinating bits of information about owls and other creatures, including facts gotten from biology research, historically and currently. I love biology, but even if I hadn’t had an interest, I can’t imagine not being interested in Wesley. I was fascinated by all the extra information. There was just the right amount about Wesley and Wesley and Stacey (most of the book), Stacey, other animals domestic and wild, general biology and research information, history, etc. etc. I don’t think it could have been done better.I have to take the author’s word. All the photos were wonderful, but I can’t read Wesley’s expressions or body language. But, the photos throughout the book are wonderful, though I’d have loved them in color. Only the 2 cover illustrations are in color.I’m completely sympathetic re never releasing infirm birds but uncomfortable with her anti-animal rights movement stance, especially with regard to experimentation on animals for human benefit, when I believe there is negligible benefit. Also, the God/spiritual stuff was not my cup of tea. However, none of that matters: I like the book too much.And I’m glad to hear someone who’s had a positive experience with Kaiser.This is a special book. I’ve already recommended it to a few friends, and my book club has talked about reading it and I think it would be a good choice for us so maybe someday. It’s poignant and sweet, but I was especially taken with how amusing it is. I frequently laughed out loud.I’m so glad some of the members of my Goodreads’ Comfort Reads group decided to read this as a buddy read because I finally got it off my to read shelf. I loved it more than I’d anticipated.I’m gushing and not completely coherent, but you get the idea.Some additional notes to self: Love the not for owls/not for babies, and rare use of the word no. Mouse in mouth/having to pretend to eat a mouse a day. the trust and love were amazing, in both directions.There are so many priceless scenes. The time when Wesley waits (not so patiently) for Stacey to open the door for him will certainly feel like a familiar scene to anybody who's ever had a dog or cat companion.
    • 4/5
      I'm a sucker for animal books. This one is really sweet and I learned a lot about owls. The story was a bit thin, plumped out with anecdotes about biologists in general, but I enjoyed reading it and I loved that she gave a warning to stop reading if you didn't want to read about the owl dying.

      Of course I kept reading and of course I cried.
    • 3/5
      I am usually a devoted fan of non-fiction animal books, but there are two things that repeatedly come to mind when I think back on this book that remain an "ick factor" to me. The first is the emphasis on Wesley the Owl's recurrent mating on the author's arm. The second is the mention of a fellow biologist who had a parasitic problem of worms crawling out of his skin. I know that the first is crucial to this story which tells of a research biologist who raises a baby barn owl at home because it had a damaged wing that would prevent it from ever surviving in the wild through hunting. An amazing relationship develops between the author and her owl. There are many tender moments in this book, and, yet, Stacy's memoir doesn't shy away from showing how raising a wild animal at home can possibly be harmful to a human. Fortunately for Wesley and Stacey, their 19 years together together were a success, and Stacey was ultimately able to contribute to improved scientific understanding of barn owl behavior and vocalization.