A Collection

I was inspired by some of my favorite bloggers and their collections (snowmen, boots, sewing machines … you know who you are!) to revisit one of my favorite collections – owls! I like to think my love of owls predated the current owl craze, since I started collecting them in the 60s, and actually worked with real owls for several years during the 70s.

This week I gathered my owlish things together to take some pictures. You just don’t realize how many items you have until you put them all together. And you don’t realize how dusty your house is until you start moving things around – urgh!

Here are a few representative pieces from the collection.
Owls of bark, metal, and clay,

Owl clip art, owl postcards, and owl cigar boxes,
Brass owl bookends
Owl beanbags
Adorable sleepy owl teacup
Fuzzy owls in an old bamboo cage
And some retro owl pendants
There are a few other owls around here, including a stack of owl books, some old photos, and a number of owl rubber stamps.

Some of the collection has disappeared over time, like my owl candle, which probably just melted at some point, and the owl tee shirt that I wore until it was nothing but threads. My mom has my embroidered owls, which is nice because I see them when I visit. And there are probably many more that I haven’t thought of!

Fun owl facts:
There are between 150 and 220 species of owl worldwide (if you know any biologists, you know they can never agree on classification).
A baby owl is called an owlet.
A group of owls is called a parliament.
Owl “ears” are actually just tufts of display feathers. The hearing apparatus is in the head just behind the big discs around the eyes.
Most owls capture and dispatch prey with their extremely strong feet. (Important for owl handlers to know this – watch for the feet, not the beak!)

I’ve learned over the years that some people dislike and/or are deathly afraid of owls. I hope the current popularity of these birds is helping our oclophobic friends, rather than putting them in a constant state of anxiety!

What about you? Love owls, or no?
Katrina