 When
June divided up the final bits of food at 4pm today, Dexter (under June's
right wing) got the first pieces and would have eaten it all if June had let
him. She did not, however, and started feeding Daphne who is seen under
her left wing. Woody, who is in the middle, appeared to be out of luck as
June picked up the last piece of mouse and started to feed it to Daphne.
At this point, Woody took action. He reached up and intercepted the whole
center section of the very large mouse before it reached Daphne. It was
almost as big as Woody's head and it was a real struggle for him to
swallow it. As soon as it disappeared down his throat, he fell to the
floor where he lay motionless. June had been watching very closely
and soon started poking him with her beak. She then reached under his
neck, pushed his head to the side and rubbed her beak across his neck
several times. As she did this, Woody suddenly woke up and climbed to his
feet as if nothing had happened. While it is possible that the timing was
a coincidence, June's actions were so purposeful that I felt that I had
witnessed an owl's version of the Heimlich Maneuver. |