Desert Babies

My Dear Wife took a new position at work a while back that required her to move to an office that was outside the main laboratory compound. The building she works at isn't that far out in the sticks. But it is far enough out that she gets to see a lot of critters wandering around there. Mostly it's just typical desert wildlife - rabbits, lizards, bobcats, etc. But yesterday she got a couple real treats.

Her building was visited by a couple feathered, or almost feathered, youngsters.

First up was this fledgling barn owl. It seemed to be in distress and obviously wasn't old enough to be out of the nest and on its own. Since no one in the building could figure out where it came from they loaded it up and took it to a local vet who has a good reputation for taking good care of strays.



Then the same afternoon this young crane wandered into the entryway of their building. It is a little older and able to get around better than the owl but still not quite old enough to fend for itself. They put some water out for it and it disappeared after a while. My dear wife hopes that it made it home safely. They are aware that there is a bobcat lair somewhere across the road from their building.