Aw Cute: This Owl Thinks He's A Seagull

Photo Credit: FWC

 A rare Burrowing Owl has been rescued from the world's largest cruise ship, the Oasis of the Sea, where it had apparently tried to find a home on a miniature golf course.
Just hours before the ship set sail for the Caribbean from Port Everglades in Florida a member of the crew saw the owl near the artificial grass of the golf course on an upper deck, and called in officials from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC).
The 1,181 ft ship has a living park, complete with plants and trees, but the FWC said the owl would not have coped well with a new environment out at sea.
"Burrowing owls need to be in open, treeless areas where they can dig their burrow," said FWC biologist Ricardo Zambrano. "The artificial turf on the ship's golf course resembles the fields they use for nesting in urban areas; however, it was obviously not suitable habitat for this owl."
Burrowing Owls are listed as a species of special concern, meaning the birds, their nests and eggs, are all protected by law from interference or disturbance making Lt. David Bingham, the man who rescued the little bird, a hero!

Lt. David Bingham holding onto the rescued owl.
Photo credit: FWC

Lt Bingham said, "Never in all of my 25 years with the FWC have I seen anything like this, and I have responded to some strange calls. I am very pleased the owl wasn't injured and that we could get it back to a normal habitat." BBC