A little bit about the SBOIC, the interpretive center was opened for the first time in 1997 in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. The center is close to the exhibition grounds due to the fact that several pairs of wild owls have chosen to nest in the infield of the abandoned racetrack. If you look closely you can see some of the wild owls standing close to their burrows.
The center is an interactive place by nature as there are so many other things to do other than just look at owls in a pen.
The center is open to the public from the May long weekend to the Labour Day long weekend, 7 days a week, from 10am to 6pm. The SBOIC is located at 250 Thatcher Drive East. You can link to their website by clicking SBOIC at the top of the page.

This past week we had a private tour of the Saskatchewan Burrowing Owl Interpretive Center in Moose Jaw Saskatchewan. This was such a treat for me, as being that close to any type of owl is such a learning experience for anyone interested in owls or nature in general. After spending some time with the Burrowing Owl outreach worker Brent, whose job among other duties is to take one of the owls to several of the schools and other institutions around the province to help educate people about Burrowing Owls, I realized from this trip that the SBOIC is one of the most important conservation projects I’ve had the privilege to experience in a long time. However, I may be biased in my opinion as I am a great admirer of owls and other birds of their nature.

Another point I want to make here before we get into the inner workings of the center, is where the owls kept there are from and why they are not let back into the wild. First off, most if not all of the birds being kept and cared for at the center have come to be there due to illness of injury. For this reason they cannot due to their injuries be let back out into the wild. All the owls that are at the center at this time are in perfect heath and what ever injury or trauma that brought the birds to the center have long ago healed over.
Some of the reasons that Brent and I talked about for the owls being there were wide in their scope, one of the owls that we seen only had one eye due a run in with a barb wire fence. Actually many of the owls there were at some point of their lives the recipient of the business end of a barb wire fence. Another owl Brent pointed out to us had become caught up in a fence and broke its wing; it was then taken to the Veterinarian collage at the U of S to have its wing pinned back. After it had healed its wing it decided to fly into something only to break the same wing only in a different spot. It seems every owl there has some kind of story. So what I’m trying to say here is that any program that helps or takes in injured animals and or rehabilitates them deserves our respect.
Now if I can remember correctly there are a total of thirteen Burrowing Owls at the center, three of these owls are imprinted on humans and can be handles and as Alyssa found out, hand fed. The other ten are kept in separate pens where they can interact in the most natural way allowed in their situation. Inside of this large enclosure are five or six divisions, the interesting this here is that the owls have paired up and claimed one divided section for themselves. Well as owls do, they mate and nest in these man made pens. As in nature they want to lay there eggs not in a nest but three feet underground. In this man made situation there are no badgers to dig the holes that will in turn become owl burrows. So in this case the staff at the center uses an artificial burrow made up from black piping a wooden box and a couple of five gallon paint pails. In the main pens where the ten non imprinted owls are, the birds will mate and lay their eggs in the man made nest. The unique thing here is the fact that the staff can open up the lid to the nest and look in to study the young owls. There is a clear plastic cover that sits over to of the nest, so all this can be done without ever touching or disturbing the nest.
Another highlight of our visit was feeding one of the imprints. Brent asked if we would like to feed the owl a mouse, he asked if I would like to but I thought it would be more fun to see one of my girls do it. Victoria decided that holding a dead mouse wasn’t her thing, but Alyssa was all for it. Brent took the lid off the sink in the room where the owl was and showed us a handful of unthawed mice, the rest are kept in a freezer. Alyssa took a mouse and was told to hide the mouse from the owl until Brent said it was ok, so she faced away from the owl. When Brent told her to turn around the owl that was about twelve feet away flew like a bullet to her hand and took the mouse away from Alyssa in the blink of an eye. It then took its catch to the outside pens and proceeded to eat the mouse starting with the head. Apparently even in the wild Burrowing owls will eat their prey starting with the head first.
After this we proceeded to finish our tour with a look inside the center part of the grounds, inside this building is a replica of a owl burrow scaled for a human to help us understand what it feels like to be underground in one of their nests.
Another interesting fact that was brought to our attention was how many mice have been found in a single burrow. Brent asked us to guess the number, I guessed 15, Alyssa guessed 30, Victoria guesses 100, I laughed at her high number and soon was made the fool. Brent told us that the real number was 130 or more mice found in a single burrow. Apparently one of the ways a male owl can attract a mate is to stock its burrow with as many mice as it can. The female will go around to various burrows and look inside, if she finds a mate with sufficient stock piles of food she will stay. Brent continued to tell us that the owl with the 130+ mice did not get a mate that year. What’s a guy gotta do!
Our tour of the center was one of the most interesting days I've had in a long time and has made me a strong supporter of what they are trying to do there, and I will be returning soon to photograph the young owls after they hatch. One final point here before my last rant, the owl center last year released about twenty owls back into the wild. These owls were from the five matting pairs that are kept at the center, I think that fact alone in enough for us to pay more attention to what is happening at the SBOIC. If you ever find yourself in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan please visit the SBOIC and see the owls.

Final thoughts -

I think that places like this are vital to nature and it gives us a chance to see inside a world that for many of us doesn’t exist. It’s nice to see people taking up the cause to make sure that spices like this will be around for our children to see and hopefully their kids too. The problem is one small organization like the SBOIC cannot do it alone, they need our help in whatever form we can give it. Awareness is one of the best ways to help; there are so many ways that we can be involved with the conservation of the natural things all around us. It doesn’t have to be owls; it can be what ever you have around your little part of the world. Look around and see what there is close to you that you can help keep natural and wild. If there are animals of any sorts around you help keep them there by giving them their space. There may come a time when you can get closer and see what else there is around your wild places.
Another way to help is my favorite, go visit places like the SBOIC or your local zoo. Get involved in the things in your community that help in the causes that you believe in. Don’t get me wrong here, not everyone is going to like or even want to help with things like this and that’s fine. If this is your thing though than you will understand the point I’m trying to make here. As I’ve said so many times before the best way enjoy or natural places is to go outside and have a look around.