Gigi is a great horned owl who arrived at Wild at Heart Rescue, a wildlife rehabilitation centre in Mississippi, with a severe head injury that her rescuers believe came from a collision with a car. She survived against the odds, largely thanks to the long, patient care of volunteer Douglas Pojeky. A short video the rescue posted of Gigi pressing her head against Doug's shoulder after he came home from a trip went around the world as "the owl who hugged her rescuer".
The clip is touching, and it is also a good starting point for a few real questions: how wild owls are nursed back from injuries like this, what an owl's body language actually means, and why a bird that bonds with a human may face a different future from one that goes back to the woods.
How Gigi came to Wild at Heart Rescue
When Gigi was found, she had suffered major trauma to the head. Road collisions are one of the most familiar ways owls get hurt: they hunt low over verges and ditches, where rodents gather, and they often fly across roads at night just as headlights appear. A heavy blow to the head can damage an owl's eyes, inner ear and brain, which matters enormously for a hunter that depends on sharp vision and precise hearing.
Missy Dubuisson, who founded Wild at Heart, told reporters that Gigi was among the most critical patients the centre had ever treated, and that her survival was beyond comprehension
. For a rehabilitator who has seen many hopeless cases, that is a striking thing to say.
Dubuisson gave much of the credit to Doug Pojeky, a volunteer known around the rescue as the "birds of prey whisperer". According to the rescue's account, Gigi would probably not have pulled through without the time he spent feeding, handling and monitoring her during the weeks of recovery.
Gigi during her recovery at Wild at Heart Rescue. Great horned owls are named for the feather tufts on their heads, which are not ears; their real ear openings are hidden in the feathers on the sides of the face.
Meet the great horned owl
The great horned owl (Bubo virginianus) is the most widespread true owl in the Americas, found from Alaska and Canada through much of Central America and into parts of South America. Adults are big birds: roughly 43 to 64 centimetres long, with wingspans that can exceed 1.5 metres. Females are larger and heavier than males, often weighing around 1.6 kilograms against a male's 1.2.
They are formidable, adaptable hunters. In North America most of their diet is mammals, especially rabbits, hares, voles, mice and rats, but more than 500 prey species have been recorded, including skunks, which few other predators will take on. They are also among the earliest nesting birds on the continent, sometimes sitting on eggs in the middle of winter while snow is still on the ground.
That strength and independence is part of why the video surprised so many people. This is not a species known for gentleness, and the sight of one leaning quietly into a human's shoulder looks almost out of character.
Doug Pojeky with Gigi. Volunteers who handle large raptors usually wear thick leather gauntlets, because a great horned owl's talons can grip with considerable force.
The "hug": what the video actually shows
When Doug returned from visiting family in Michigan, the rescue says Gigi grew visibly animated, shifting and bobbing in a way the staff read as excitement. Then she lowered her head onto his shoulder and stayed there while he held her. Dubuisson described the trust as something you could see in the owl's face.
A short animated clip from the reunion. The head-to-shoulder contact is what led to the "owl hug" headlines.
It is worth separating what we can see from what we infer. We can observe an owl seeking close physical contact with one particular person, calmly, and repeatedly. We can reasonably conclude that she is comfortable with him and recognises him. Birds of prey are well able to tell individual humans apart, and many rehabilitators report that some birds respond very differently to a familiar handler than to strangers.
Calling it a "hug" in the human sense, with all the emotion that word carries, is our interpretation. Owls do engage in mutual preening and close contact with mates, and a bird that has been hand-fed and handled for weeks may direct some of that social behaviour towards its carer. Whether Gigi feels something like gratitude is impossible to know. What is clear is that the bond is real in the sense that matters: she trusts him.
Gigi resting against her carer. Relaxed feathers and half-closed eyes in an owl usually suggest a bird at ease rather than one under stress.
How injured owls are rehabilitated
Wildlife rehabilitation is the work of caring for injured, sick or orphaned wild animals with the aim of returning them to the wild. In the United States, native birds such as owls are protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, so anyone caring for them needs federal and usually state permits. That is why the right first step on finding an injured owl is to call a licensed rehabilitator rather than trying to nurse it at home.
A typical recovery for a head-injured raptor runs in stages:
- Stabilisation. Keeping the bird warm, dark and quiet, treating shock and swelling, and checking for fractures and eye damage.
- Supportive care. Assisted feeding if the bird cannot eat by itself, medication and frequent checks while the brain and eyes heal.
- Reconditioning. Once the owl is stable, it moves to a larger enclosure to rebuild flight muscles and, ideally, to show it can catch live prey.
- Release assessment. Vision, hearing and flight all have to be good enough for survival. Rehabilitators generally aim to release birds close to where they were found.
Not every bird passes that final test. Animals that cannot survive in the wild may go to licensed education centres, where they can become "ambassador" birds for school visits and public talks.
Why a close bond can be complicated
Rehabilitators usually try hard to limit human contact, especially with young birds. A young owl that imprints on people can come to see humans as its own kind, and in birds that imprinting tends to be permanent. An imprinted owl may approach people, fail to fear them, or struggle to find a mate, which makes release risky.
Gigi was an adult when she was injured, which is different from imprinting, but long periods of hand care can still make a bird unusually tolerant of particular people. The published accounts do not say whether Gigi was eventually released or stayed at the rescue, so we can't tell you how her story ended. Either outcome can be a good one: a bird released fit and wary, or a non-releasable bird living a safe life and helping to teach people about her species.
Another moment between Gigi and Doug. Rescues often share photos like this to raise funds, since the care of a single large raptor can run for weeks of food, medicine and volunteer time.
Watch the reunion, and how you can help owls
The rescue's own video of the reunion is below. It is short, and it shows the moment far better than any description.
If the clip has left you wanting to help wild owls, a few simple steps make a real difference:
- Do not throw food scraps from car windows. Litter on verges draws rodents, which draws owls into the path of traffic.
- Slow down on rural roads at dusk and after dark, when owls hunt.
- Avoid rodent poisons where you can. Owls that eat poisoned rodents can be poisoned themselves.
- If you find an injured owl, keep your distance, cover it with a box or towel only if it is safe to do so, and call a licensed wildlife rehabilitator or your state wildlife agency.
- Support your local rescue with donations or volunteer time. Places like Wild at Heart run largely on goodwill.
Gigi's story spread because it looked like a hug. It is worth remembering for a quieter reason too: a badly injured wild animal was given weeks of skilled, unglamorous care, and it lived.
More about the rescue: wildatheartrescue.org | Wild at Heart Rescue on Facebook
Sources: Photos and video: Wild at Heart Rescue; original report: Bored Panda via The Earth Tribe; Wikipedia: Great horned owl; Wikipedia: Wildlife rehabilitation.
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