CHILDREN of all ages enjoyed a close encounter with three owls at a demonstration by a wildlife expert.
Youngsters and adults were able to hold a tawny owl, a little owl and a white faced Scops owl using a special leather handling glove.
The tawny owl also treated visitors to a wing-flapping and “waving” display.
The owls were brought to Pets at Home at Middlebrook by birds of prey experts from the Gentleshaw Wildlife Centre, a hospital for wild birds in Staffordshire.
The pet shop has seen an increase in the interest in owls because of Harry Potter and his owl, Hedwig, but manager Stephen Appleby warned that they do not make good pets.
He said: “The Harry Potter films seem to have increased public interest in wild birds and, in particular, owls.
“Keeping these birds is very time consuming and requires lots of specialist knowledge to make sure that they get the correct care and, therefore, they are not suitable to be kept as domestic pets.”
The Gentleshaw Wildlife Centre looks after captive birds that have been abandoned and its hospital has helped to rehabilitate about 50 wild birds of prey every year since it opened in 1994.
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