Companion Species

Developing this modular, I had to think holistically about the design. Sammy is normally on a perch, but owls in the wild usually have all the space they could want to fly. What I did when designing Sammy’s modular/ruler is this: I first focused on height. I made sure to show that there is a distinct relationship between the ground and her. Owls like to be high and be able to look down at their surroundings. I then broke down her height: from her ear tufts to beak, to neck, to feet. Then I made a second ruler- but this time focused on her wing span. This is particularly important because when designing a space for her as there are codes to follow. Stated in the California Fish and Wildlife handbook, an enclosure that contains one great horned owl requires a minimum of 64 sq feet of floor space and a minimum of 7’ ceiling height. These codes are designed to make sure the owl does not hurt itself and has room to move around like a wild bird.

Now comparing her modular to her breed’s modular, there are no “ideal” measurements as these are wild animals. So what I did was show that there is a range of measurements to the Great Horned Owl. Females are almost always bigger than the males in all aspects. As they are the ones that have to lay and protect the eggs.