I don't usually post the farewells to the owls to try to keep things upbeat, but this one seemed exceptional.
The first thing that caught my eye was her coloration. I don't come across too many pics of the greyish GHOs. There looks to be ongoing debate about why there are these color variations.
Secondly, this owl got to be cared for by people that loved her for a very long time. She got to live an extra long life for an owl and I'm sure she changed many people's lives in return. I'm sure she was grateful as much as is possible for an owl.
I'm not sure how recent these pics are, but I would have never guessed she was 30+!
From The Raptor Center
With heavy hearts, we want to share the loss of our longest-term ambassador bird, Samantha the great Center for 32 years, and the number of programs she participated in and the people she reached are incalculable. Her impact on visitors, volunteers, and staff alike was vast and deep. While she had been mostly retired from programming for the past few years due to arthritis, she still occupied a prominent spot along the tour.
Samantha's advanced age posed continued health complications that began to greatly affect her quality of life. With great skill, our clinical staff and education naturalists provided Samantha with comfort and dignity until she took a turn for the worse. On Friday March 22 the decision was made to humanely euthanize her.
Samantha lived about 10 years longer than the average lifespan of her wild counterparts. This is due to our ability to provide advanced treatment needs for age- related health conditions. Because of the excellent care and quality of life we are able to provide for all our resident birds at TRC, we have a growing retirement community of ambassador raptors.
Samantha had a personality that was both gentle and fierce. Her unique arctic feather morph and striking yellow eyes could pierce you and stop you in your tracks. She was a bird that caused people to stop and reflect on the majesty of raptors and our world. She will be missed for the gentle way that she would take her food from handlers and for the way that she would hoot to express how she was feeling about a particular situation. She will also be missed for the way that she would take the most epic baths, seeming to thoroughly enjoy them.
We will all miss Samantha, and we can be grateful for having gotten to know this remarkable and beautiful bird.
