He’s not a human, but he thinks he is. He likes to talk, but he definitely can’t hoot. And he weighs about as much as a stick of butter. Meet Monty, the eastern screech owl who is the newest addition to the Howard County Conservancy’s resident animals.
Born last winter, Monty sees himself as part of the human world more than the animal world, said Tabby Fique, the conservancy’s land manager.
As an owlet, Monty fell and broke his leg, she said. He was taken to the Owl Moon Raptor Center in Montgomery County for rehabilitation on his leg and has always been around humans as a result.
“He’s been imprinted and didn’t learn how to be an owl from Mom and Dad,” Fique said.
Which means Monty doesn’t make the typical owl noises — he chirps. A lot.
While in rehab, he was next to crows, so maybe Monty is bilingual, joked Susan Hobby, the group’s communications coordinator.
Monty joined the conservancy on July 9, but his big debut to society will be in a few weeks at the organization’s annual Wine in the Garden, Beer in the Barn event, Hobby said. Monty, along with the conservancy’s resident barred owl since 2010, Ranger, will greet guests — about 500 of them.
Monty might enjoy greeting guests. Perched on Fique’s gloved hand, he stood tall as photos were snapped of him, peering over onlookers and chiming in with a chirp every now and then.
“He doesn’t like being ignored,” she said. “If I look at him, he’ll start screeching at me. Owls are spunky little spicy things.”
She said owls have catlike personalities, and Monty fits into that box. Mostly. Fique trimmed his beak and talons in the morning, and she said he was extremely easy to work with — unlike most cats when they get their nails trimmed.
Because he is good with people, he’s a hit in the office — and he was an especially huge hit during the 10 weeks of summer camp at the conservancy, she said.
Ten days after he moved into the conservancy, the children at summer camp chose his name, Hobby said. The counselors gathered some of the popular name options from the campers — vetoing Hot Dog — and let them vote from a list of four names: Timber, Davis, Scout and Monty.
Now that camp is over, Monty spends his mornings sleeping in late inside his enclosure along the five-mile trail open to the public at the conservancy. The trail sits on 232 acres of land that are home to native bees, plants and trees, along with butterflies, birds, deer, the occasional otter, many other animals and so much history, Hobby said.
If Monty looks a little scraggly in his enclosure, don’t worry, he’s just growing new feathers, which is called molting.
“His feathers look a little lackluster,” Fique said.
Monty chirped at her comment.
Soon he will have shiny new feathers to show off to students across the Howard County Public School System this year as an animal ambassador for students to learn all about animals — especially Monty.
“He knows he’s cute,” Fique said.
