Apollo

Apollo is most likely a male Great Horned Owl.  Females are larger than males, and although Apollo appears quite large in real life, he really is small for a Great Horned Owl! Apollo was picked up in Fort Wayne with an old, already healed wing fracture.  Since the fracture was healed, there was nothing we could do to help it heal properly so he could regain the ability to fly.  Luckily for him, we had an opening for an education bird when he came along in 2010.   Apollo is actually not a ferocious bird; in fact, he is quite shy.  It takes him a long time to trust his handlers; he has few people he is really comfortable with.  If he gets really frightened, he will try to tuck his head under his handler’s arm!  He is especially frightened of our Bald Eagle, so we are careful to not have them within sight of each other during programs.