Talking Animals

Stacey O'Brien--author of "Wesley The Owl: The Remarkable Love Story Of An Owl And His Girl"

Stacey O’Brien–author of “Wesley The Owl: The Remarkable Love Story Of An Owl And His Girl” — discusses some of the experiences that comprise her extraordinary and fascinating memoir about her nearly two decades raising and living with the titular barn owl, whom she met while a young assistant at the Caltech owl laboratory and Wesley was an owlet with a damaged wing, which would’ve prevented him from surviving in the wild.

She addressed the unyielding challenge of providing mice for Wesley (seeing as Wesley displayed an unyielding appetite for mice, virtually the only thing barn owls eat), how Wesley came to view her as his mate (and how Wesley’s attendant behavior proved to be somewhere between difficult and repellent when it came to human male suitors), how reacting to and disciplining Wesley contrasted sharply with the way one does those things when living with other animals, and more. [www.WesleyTheOwl.com]

COMEDY CORNER: Tom Shillue’s “Animal Shows” (www.TomShillue.com)

MUSIC: Angelo Badalementi’s “Cool Cat Walk,” Justine Mayela’s “Celebration For The Turkeys,” instrumentals

NAME THAT ANIMAL TUNE: Pink Floyd’s “Sheep”