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Bertie, the owl who is afraid of going outside
...and he loves nothing more than helping his owner make a cup of tea
Meet Bertie, the three-year-old tawny owl that is agoraphobic.
It shares a farmhouse with its owner Peter Middleton, and after its daily bath likes to dry its feathers by sitting on top of the aga. When it isn’t welcoming guests with a hoot or preening them on the sofa, it is hard at work letter shredding in the office.
Mr Middleton said the domesticated owl, which he adopted after it was left abandoned on the ground, hates the outdoors. He said: ‘He just doesn’t like going outside, I think it is agoraphobic. He’s not used it and he’s very comfortable in the house.
‘He’s been here for over three years and it totally and utterly domesticated now, bless him. Bertie wouldn’t last a couple of days out there.’ Mr Middleton, 56, an organic farmer in Northumberland who runs Trewitley Owl Trust, a charity which looks after around 50 rescued owls, said Bertie came to him from the local vets.
He said: ‘He arrived as a forlorn mud-covered chick with infection feet. He was in a very sorry state.
‘He spent the first two months of his life being cared for by the vets. He was just a tiny tennis ball-sized piece of fluff. He was becoming a bit of a liability as he was flying around, standing on top of the doors and watching everybody.’
Mr Middleton was given him to take care of and first of all put Bertie in an aviary with all the other owls.
‘He was agitated and didn’t like it so I go a big dog’s cage on my back porch and put him inside there. He has a lovely view out of the window and hoots when anyone arrives.
‘It is a bit like having a guard dog’, he said. Mr Middleton said his sister, who often visits the farm, is welcomed with a special noise. He said: ‘He’s very sweet actually, he’s a very gentle little bird.
‘He likes his house and as far as he is concerned the farm is his home. The only thing that scares him is when there are helicopters flying above – he gets a bit frightened.’
As part of Bertie’s daily routine, he has a bath in the dog’s bowl or a special tray put out for it then dries his feathers out on top of the aga, Mr Middleton explained. Its diet includes day-old chicks and mice.
He said: ‘He does what owls do best, he looks around, sleeps, eats and has a bath. He dries and preens himself on top of the aga – on top of the mat – because it is nice and warm for him.
‘He has it all worked out.’ Bertie, who should live for another 15 years, lives in the farm with a pet raven – which it has not yet met – and three dogs.
‘He doesn’t come into contact with other owls and I don’t allow the pet raven to meet him as he’s very territorial and likes to be the centre of attention.
‘Bertie is such a self-contained little animal, he stands on the back of the sofa and if anybody sitting on it, he will walk along and preen their hair. He likes to have contact with people.
‘He hoots at the dogs when we let them out but otherwise he ignores them.’ When Bertie is not busy washing itself, it assists its owner in his office upstairs.
Mr Middleton said: ‘He likes my office and either sits on my shoulder or sits on the windowsill and that way he has a lovely view onto open fields. ‘We often say how privileged we are to have him, he’s so gentle, you could trust him with a small child. Bertie is a wonderful animal.
‘He likes preening himself and he loves paper. He makes a mess in the office in no time by shredding paper. He’s also fascinated by glittery pencils.’ Mr Middleton added: ‘Owls by nature are fairly sedentary, Bertie is incredibly content sitting and watching the world go by.’
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