JACKSON, Miss.- GiGi, a great horned owl, arrived at Mississippi’s Wild at Heart Rescue all alone. However, he made a friend most say he will never forget.
Douglas “Doug” Pojeky is the president of the rescue and is also knows as the “birds of prey whisperer.” When GiGi was brought in he was barely eating and close to death. So close that he lost nearly a pound during treatment. That’s a lot when this type of bird only weighs two-to-five pounds when fully grown.
While rescuers feared the worst for GiGi, Pojeky took the little guy under his “wing.” GiGi began a miraculous turn around. Pojeky earned the bird’s trust through his care for him and he began eating food on his own.
Pojeky had to go to Michigan to visit family for a little while and that meant GiGi was without his best friend at the shelter. However, when Pojeky returned, he was met with some astonishing affection.
Pojeky did a routine examination on GiGi and when he was done the owl began bobbing his head up and down and dancing on Pojeky’s arm. GiGi then draped his wings across Pojeky’s chest and embraced his caregiver in a hug.
Pojeky told The Dodo that being hugged by GiGI was a very special and important moment for him because as he was growing up a great horned owl would sit on the top of his family’s barn.
He said his father was often the only one who ever saw the bird and on the morning of his father’s death the owl was spotted on the farm house just before he passed away.
