I have followed Avani Kalra’s inexorably sad series on the demise, one by one, of the great horned owl family that bred over the winter in Lincoln Park, steps away from the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum. It is cold comfort that we will read no more of these articles, as the mother owl (following her mate and their young) has now perished, covered with blood ( May 10). I know this is anthropocentric, but Kalra’s writing packs more of a punch after I watched these owls for several months: first the mother perched in front of the nest hole with the father keeping watch, day after day, from a nearby tree; then the owlet peeking out from the nest cavity beneath the mother; finally all three raptors perched on the same limb.
(Once when a strong gust of wind blew through, I saw the parents actually squeeze their progeny from both sides to keep it secure.) Going forward, perhaps the Tribune could look into some underlying questions: Can forensics determine whether these owls ingested second-generation anticoagulants, which are highly regulated and have been prohibited in California? How prevalent is the use of these poisons in the city, particularly in the vicinity of parks and other wildlife areas? Is the Department of Streets and Sanitation doing all it can to reduce the demand for anticoagulants by vigorously enforcing the sanitation code? Are the city, Cook County and the state of Illinois looking into other rat remedies such as the sterilization chemicals New York City is co.