Troy prefers his bird’s eye view to be no higher than 5ft 10in (177 cm). The one-year-old has an inconvenient phobia: he’s terrified of heights. After an unfortunate start in life when he fell from his nest, Troy was raised in captivity by handler Gareth Tonen, who just happens to be 5ft 10in tall. As a result, Troy has grown up without any lofty aspirations of his own. Ashley Smith, chief executive of the Trust, said Troy’s apparent fear of heights was a result of forgetting how to be a bird.
He said: “He’s been in captivity for as long as he can remember and has never been higher than his handler can lift him. He sees himself as more of a human than an owl, he doesn’t know how to sit in trees or hunt. Gareth has to almost act like an owl to get Troy to behave like one.” As a result, a daily tree climb has become part of Troy’s – and Mr Tonen’s – routine. Ladders have been fixed so Mr Tonen can scramble into the trees and call for Troy, who will fly up and join his handler – but go no higher.
Mr Tonen said: “I don’t think he even knows he’s an owl – he thinks he’s a Gareth. He sees himself as a small person rather than an owl. He now looks upon me as his mum and dad rolled into one. We’ll get there. He’s gaining more confidence and if I have to carry on climbing up trees with him then we’ll do what it takes for him to be a high flyer.”
Daily Mail
Vocabulary
inconvenient – alkalmatlan
nest – fészek
captivity – rabság
lofty – emelkedett, magasröptű
owl – bagoly
to scramble – nehézkesen mászik
rolled into one – egyszemélyben
