'Owl' Be Your Valentine: Mr. Bill the Owl Gets A New Friend

Up until now, Mr. Bill, the great horned owl and Denison Pequotsepos Nature Center’s official mascot, was wondering: “Who will be my valentine? Who?”

The wait is over because Mr. Bill has a new friend and roommate — Virginia, a great horned owl too, who goes by the nickname “Ginny.”

Virginia was named after the bird’s species name Bubo virginianus and nicknamed Ginny by DPNC staff. She arrived at the Nature Center in late January, from a wildlife rehabilitation facility in Rhode Island, according to a press release from Director of Marketing and Communications Elissa Bass.

Mr. Bill had been alone since his roommate Sam was released in December, after four years of residence with the Mystic center.

“Because he was used to having a companion, and in fact the two owls would typically roost together, the Nature Center put out the word we had a vacancy,” the press release said.

Ginny was brought to the Rhode Island rehabilitation facility in the fall of 2014 after she was found on the side of the road in Jamestown, R.I. with a broken wing, most likely after being struck by a car.

She underwent surgery on her broken left wing and while staff hoped she could be released, they determined she wouldn’t be able to fly well enough to survive in the wild.

When Ginny is settled, she will be incorporated into animal education programming at the center.

The Meet-Cute

When the two met for the first time, it certainly was a hoot! The couple had a few spats during the first couple of days while they sorted out who was Top Owl.

They then went to their corners — aka the opposite sides of their enclosure — but that didn’t last long.

“Now, Ginny and Bill are roosting together much of the time,” Bass said. “Like any new couple, they jump apart when staff enters the enclosure to feed or clean, but we think a new match has been made.”

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Photo Credit: Denison Pequotsepos Nature Center