Imagine opening up Instagram after a long day of school, ready to scroll for a while to unwind from the day. But instead of mindlessly scrolling through useless content, Instagram pops up with some local content: videos from Fontenelle Forest about these cute owls. Videos of these local stars continue to pop up, explaining the owls’s backstories, showing the owls participating in trends, and much more. Now, instead of wasting time watching random content, viewers are able to educate themselves on local owls they might even see next time they’re at Fontenelle Forest.

Fontenelle Forest’s videos featuring their eastern screech owls Spike and George have gone viral, helping to promote the forest and educating viewers on the raptors. 

“[Spike’s] original video got a few hundred thousand views— the most any of our Forest content had ever gotten,” Raptor Care Specialist Ellen Kinsey said. “About two months later, we made an introduction video for him, which blew up even more— now with over 8 million views.”

When Kinsey started posting videos featuring Spike on Fontenelle Forest’s social media, she didn’t expect them to go viral. Spike also wasn’t chosen for a specific reason— he just happened to be the owl that gained popularity. 

“Spike just happened to be the one we chose to do the trend ‘Showing _____ things they’ve never seen before,’” Kinsey said. “We had no idea he would get so many views and such a positive following.”

Another owl that has been popular on Instagram is George, Spike’s roommate, and they both came to the forest for different reasons. Spike was found trapped inside a boxcar, and the staff suspected the lack of food and extreme temperature led to his brain damage. George was found as a chick after the tree his nest was in was cut down, and came to the forest due to an eye injury making him unable to hunt in the wild. He has lived at the forest for 12 years, and always refused to room with other owls by going on hunger strike– until he met Spike.

“When we put Spike in with George, George took to him immediately,” Kinsey said. “He started preening Spike and even offered his leftover mouse from the night before. We suspect George sensed that Spike wasn’t a threat.”

While these videos have an entertaining aspect to them, that’s not the only purpose they serve. Some of the videos have an educational aspect, teaching viewers more about the owls.

“While these videos are funny and entertaining, they also have created more awareness about raptor conservation,” Manager of Grants and Community Engagement Bridget Hanson said. “Birds of prey like Spike and George play an important role in our ecosystem. All of the birds of prey who live at the forest have backstories that help us understand how humans can coexist with raptors by protecting their habitats.”

According to the Bird Fact website, screech owls in the wild have diets consisting of things like insects, mice, bats, and other small rodents. At Fontenelle Forest, they feed the owls small mice that come frozen that the staff thaw out for feeding. At the forest, the owls usually have the option to be outside or inside as long as the weather isn’t bad.

“It’s important birds have access to the elements like rain and sunshine,” Kinsey said. “In extreme weather and freezing temperatures, we close the owls inside to protect them. They mostly want their space from each other, though they will share a perch, which doesn’t always happen with roommates.”

Fontenelle Forest is not only important to these owls, providing them a place to live and be safe, but it’s also important for the community. It offers a small piece of nature amidst the large metro area for the community to enjoy.

“Fontenelle Forest offers access to green space without having to drive hours away to access it,” Hanson said. “It’s a privilege to have a space dedicated to conservation, environmental education, and recreation in the community and we take great pride in maintaining it for our current and future generations.”

The videos are reaching wider audiences. People who don’t live in Bellevue have seen the videos, and many of those people enjoy learning about the owls too.

  “I do enjoy watching this type of content because you always learn something new or something about the animals,” San Diego resident Mikhaila Curry said.

Social media can reach many different people across the country and even the world. Fontenelle Forest’s way of sharing the information about these owls helps them connect to people not just from Bellevue, but many other areas. This connection can be beneficial for some; Curry, who lives in San Diego, would likely not have seen or learned about these owls otherwise.

“[Social media] helps because it exposes you to opinions and experiences and cultures different from your own,” Curry said. 

Behind these videos are the people who do much more than just film; people like Kinsey help take care of the owls. Part of her day-to-day is feeding and cleaning the living spaces for not only Spike and George, but the 25 other raptors that live at the forest.

“My favorite part of my job is seeing all the birds’ individual personalities,” Kinsey said. “They have little quirks about them that make them unique. Some like the water, some don’t. Some prefer different types of perching. It’s rewarding to care for these majestic animals.”