I received this little Southern Boobook Owl (also known as a Mopoke) into care after he had been blown out of his nest on a windy day. His rescuers couldn't place him back into the nest it as it was very high up in a tree.

I decided to call him Baboo, as in Baby Boobook!

He was one feisty little fella! I'd cared for baby Boobooks previously and they were quite placid. Soo unknowingly and probably quite stupidly I put my unprotected hands into the carry cage so that I could move him to a larger cage and he jumped out at me - talons at the ready!

The result was only a few scratches, but it reminded me that I should approach each animal with wariness, especially those with talons!

Baboo was still covered in downy fluff and in the wild he wouldn't have been venturing out of the nest at this age. I had been told (by the rescuer) that he had tried to escape and that he could fly a couple of feet before falling to the ground. I made Baboo a nest inside the cage as shown in the photos and he seemed to settle in.

I'd had Baboo in care for some weeks before I needed to go away on a short trip. I organised for another wildlife carer to babysit Baboo while we were away. As I mentioned earlier in this story, from the first day we got Baboo he was feisty. I've cared for quite a few Southern Boobook Owls - chicks and adults - and this one was defiantly the crankiest, which amazed me as he was so young.

Baboo didn't particularly like Marea (the babysitter) either and decided to take a piece out of her when she wasn't looking. Marea's daughter called out to her just as she was about to feed the owl, and as she turned her head, he went for her unexposed arms, and clung tightly. Poor Marea did what anybody else would do and pull her arm away and Baboo took the fleeting opportunity to break for freedom. Out he flew, way up to the top of a tree in Marea's yard. Marea had to go to work so the neighbours were recruited to keep an eye on Baboo, but he was a determined little owl and decided to keep well out of reach. Come dusk he flew off and hasn't been seen since.

As Baboo was so feisty I have no doubt that he will be able to fend for himself in the wild, and Marea said that he flew beautifully as he silently glided past her face.