Nebraskaland

56 Nebraskaland • August-September 2025 omething squeezes the heart when you look at Spike, a 5-inch-tall eastern screech owl living with a raptor conservation organization in Bellevue. One of his eyes perpetually squints, giving him a bewildered expression. And both eyes — huge, bottomless, round, seemingly seeing everything and nothing at once — appear slightly off -kilter, not perfectly in sync. In one video, now viewed more than 9 million times on Instagram alone, Spike's handler and one of his main caregivers, Ell Kinsey, gently waves a hand close to the bird's face, as if checking for signs of life. Spike doesn't appear to react, and she explains, "He's just not all there. He doesn't have that typical wild awareness that a normal screech owl should have." Despite that, the 3- or 4-year-old owl is alert, calm and seemingly content in his second chance at life — millions of online admirers in tow. A Chance Encounter In September 2023, a railroad employee rescued Spike from inside a sweltering train car in Fremont. No one knows how long he'd been trapped inside, but by the time he was rescued, Spike was starving, and the heat had permanently damaged his brain. Staff at the Raptor Conservation Alliance near Elmwood got him back to a better weight, but realized he could not be released back into the wild. He could still fl y, but his ability to hunt, and his natural fear of predators, was gone. Kinsey believes that before this, Spike — who she named for a railroad spike — was indeed a mighty hunter. Generally, only one in four screech owls survive their fi rst year, and many don't make it through their fi rst winter. But Spike was at least a year old when he was found. "The fact that he made it to adulthood says a lot about the kind of hunter he was before the train car," Kinsey said. "Every now and then, we get a glimpse of that hunter." New Beginnings When the Raptor Conservation Alliance deems a bird non-releasable, the next stop may be Fontenelle Forest. One of Nebraska's oldest conservation organizations, Fontenelle is home to 27 non-releasable raptors. They receive specialized care, customized enclosures and the opportunity to live new lives as educational ambassadors. Some live in the Raptor Woodland Refuge, a large exhibit open to public view. Others, like Spike, aren't on public display, because they've shown the aptitude to educate people in other ways. These birds travel with Kinsey and other staff to local communities, appearing in programs at schools, senior care facilities and day camps. "[Spike] went on his fi rst program probably about a month after we got him," Kinsey said. "He was a real, real good bird — easy to train." During the summer, Spike may appear at up to three events a week, though his schedule is quite fl exible. Staff keep a careful eye on each bird By Renae Blum Spike, an animal ambassador at Bellevue's Fontenelle Forest, is winning hearts around the globe. S A Little Owl Goes Big Places Raptor Care Specialist Ell Kinsey is one of Spike's main caretakers and appears with him in many of his most popular videos. PHOTO COURTESY OF FONTENELLE FOREST

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