Cape Coral community builds owl memorial, seeks tips

CAPE CORAL, Fla. – Cape Coral Friends of Wildlife held a memorial at Camelot Park on Sunday morning for three baby owls who were entombed in their burrow.

The group is offering $1,000 with hopes that the cash reward will encourage people to speak up. The three owls were killed after their burrow was covered and filled with rocks and dirt.

Two adult owls, believed to be the babies’ parents, continued to return to the nest while a community of nature-lovers gathered at the park, placing wooden crosses into the ground. Many of them, like Pascha Donaldson, have monitored the next for years.

The event was an opportunity to express their sadness at losing the baby animals.

“We’ve nourished it. We’ve babied it. I call them my children. They are precious. They are part of life and they are beautiful,” Donaldson said. “”This is a very disturbing incident, and it is a crime.”

Florida Fish and Wildlife officials said they do not know whether the act that killed the owls was intentional. But if a person is responsible, he or she could face up to six years in prison and a $25,000 fine for the crime.