A smart West Lothian owl has been pictured taking cold baths during the soaring temperatures to cool her babies.
The doting parent dunked herself in a water bath and then walked back to her nest while soaking wet at the Scottish Owl Centre in Bathgate. She then sat down in her nest on top of her baby, with the cool water dripping off her.
The owl, which is native to the Arctic, is forced to take any steps possible to keep her and her babies cool during the summer in the UK, as staff at the centre say it is a common occurrence.
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As the Record reports, the owl has been hailed as 'pretty smart' by staff. A post on the centre's Facebook page read: "We've been getting good views of our baby Snowy Owl with mother the last few days.
"The youngster is now big enough to walk and sometimes strays a few feet from the nest but comes straight back if mum calls. In these pics mum looks a bit wet, so likely she's been for a quick bath and returned to the nest wet.
"We've seen her do this in previous hot summers, dunking in the water bath and walking back to the nest dripping wet to sit on the owlet/s and cool them down. They can be pretty smart when looking after their families at times."
The chick is just over a week old. A previous post, from earlier this month, says: "Snowy Owl nest check went to plan this afternoon, and the keepers found just a single chick, along with two infertile eggs.
"Still pretty good considering the female was trying to murder her mate back in March. Sensible too, as bringing up one owlet in this heatwave is challenging enough, more would be even more difficult.
"Still pretty good considering the female was trying to murder her mate back in March. Sensible too, as bringing up one owlet in this heatwave is challenging enough, more would be even more difficult.
"The little one was ringed/banded and returned to the nest. They all did a quick weeding of the aviary then left the family to recover from the intrusion."
