British Woman Becomes ‘Star’ for Saving Starving Owl

A tawny owl. (Getty Images)
A tawny owl. (Getty Images)
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British Woman Becomes ‘Star’ for Saving Starving Owl

A tawny owl. (Getty Images)
A tawny owl. (Getty Images)

A woman has become an unlikely social media star in her Cornish village - all thanks to a family of tawny owls, reported the BBC on Friday.

Diane Knight had set up a CCTV system so she could watch the owls nesting in her barn near Carnon Downs, Cornwall.

But when the male owl stopped bringing the female food, Knight stepped in.

Her work to supply the owl and the baby owlet with dead mice has proved popular on the village's Facebook page.

Knight's owl obsession started through watching the pair of tawny owls on a nest-cam she had set up.

She said the male owl was injured in a fight with a rival owl and stopped bringing the female the food she needed while sitting on her single egg.

Knight, 69, took advice and started buying dead mice, stocked as snake food by local pet shops, soon racking up a bill of more than £100.

She was told to place the mice on a nearby beam to avoid disturbing the nest, which involved climbing up a 15ft (4.5m) ladder.

She also started to share stills and video on the Carnon Downs And Surrounding Area Notice Board on Facebook and was inundated with offers of help from followers.

"They've been brilliant," she said. "One gentlemen paid for 30 and another lady she paid for 20 so I've got 50 dead mice waiting for me.

"We've got enough now, we've got a freezerful," she added, according to the BBC.

Her regular owl updates on Facebook are attracting dozens of likes and comments.

"I am a little bit addicted to it myself, I haven't watched television for months," she said.

"I cannot believe how one little owlet has brought the community together.

"I went to the dentist and the first thing they said to me is 'Are you the Owl Lady of Carnon Downs?'"

Knight has named the owlet Dorothea - Dotty for short - and is hoping the young bird is soon learn to fly, leave the nest and hunt for its own mice dinners.



Balls and Parades to Fete Jane Austen's 250th Birthday

Visitors view items on display during a tour of the Jane Austen Center in Bath, Somerset on February 14, 2025. (Photo by HENRY NICHOLLS / AFP)
Visitors view items on display during a tour of the Jane Austen Center in Bath, Somerset on February 14, 2025. (Photo by HENRY NICHOLLS / AFP)
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Balls and Parades to Fete Jane Austen's 250th Birthday

Visitors view items on display during a tour of the Jane Austen Center in Bath, Somerset on February 14, 2025. (Photo by HENRY NICHOLLS / AFP)
Visitors view items on display during a tour of the Jane Austen Center in Bath, Somerset on February 14, 2025. (Photo by HENRY NICHOLLS / AFP)

Ballgowns are being stitched, bonnets brushed and tea rooms prepped as the United Kingdom prepares to celebrate the 250th birthday of beloved literary icon Jane Austen.

Quite how the author, born in the small Hampshire village of Steventon on December 16, 1775, has managed to entice and enchant readers for more than two centuries in an ever-changing world remains a mystery.

Who would have thought that quotes from her six novels and pages of writings would adorn T-shirts and badges in the 21st century?

And not just in the UK, for the author who wrote of love and manners in the early 19th century has inspired fans around the world and her writings remain just as fresh and relevant today.

"Her novels are really concerned with wider moral issues," said Kathryn Sutherland, an Austen researcher and professor at the University of Oxford.

People feel Austen "is accessible, even though she is great literature, and also that you can read her books many times and each time you find something new in them", she added.

Sutherland also acknowledged it was fabulously filmed TV series and movies, with their brooding male leads, which had brought Austen wider audiences in the past decades.

The author of classic novels "Pride and Prejudice", "Emma" and "Sense and Sensibility" had only just become known when she died on July 18, 1817, aged 41.

But her six novels, wittily and sharply dissecting the lives of 19th century rural aristocracy, have since sold millions of copies, led to film adaptations and inspired many other productions, from "Bridget Jones" to "Bridgerton".

Austen balls sold out

Hundreds of people are expected to don period costume and stroll through the elegant Georgian streets of Bath in September for the annual 10-day Jane Austen Festival.

Austen lived for several years in the southwestern city, where she set her novels "Persuasion" and "Northanger Abbey".

A series of balls are planned, based around Austen's novels, with tickets already sold out for May and June despite a hefty £200 ($253) price tag.

With interest set to soar over the coming months, the BBC has kicked off the year with a new series -- "Miss Austen" -- devoted to the life of Jane's sister Cassandra, who burnt all her letters after her death.

She thus consigned to ashes some of Jane's deepest secrets, and to this day surprisingly little is known about the author.

Part of Austen's appeal rests on her depiction of a romanticized England with love affairs, tea and parties in the glorious surroundings of sprawling stately homes.

She also shone a harsh light on the status of women, for whom a good marriage was considered the only goal in a very restricted life.

The daughter of a clergyman, Austen herself remained unmarried despite a proposal, and spent most of her life with very little money.

'Women taking power'

"Pride and Prejudice", with its main character Elizabeth Bennet who falls for the dashing Mr. Darcy, is a firm fan favorite.

"Her female characters are very strong and vocal about their opinions and what they want," said Moa Aashacka, a 23-year-old Swedish student who was paying a Valentine's Day visit to the Jane Austen Centre in Bath with her boyfriend.

"They don't just accept marriage because they have to. They want to marry someone they actually like and love and who they feel respects them."

She added that Austen's novels were "more than romance... It's also about women taking power."

Tour guide Lauren Falconer, who helps giggling visitors dress up in Regency-style fashions, said all of Austen's characters are "so relatable" that "everyone has their favorite".

Maria Letizia d'Annibale, an English literature teacher visiting from Italy, said her pupils loved reading Austen's novels.

"Her stories are captivating. Young students really like her, especially the girls," she told AFP.

Part of the resurgence in Austen's appeal can be traced back to a stunning 1995 BBC adaption of "Pride and Prejudice", starring Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy, and director Ang Lee's Oscar-winning adaption of "Sense and Sensibility", starring Emma Thompson, Kate Winslet and Hugh Grant.

Professor Sutherland credits these for propelling Austen "into a different level of popularity".

"In Jane Austen's novels, the hero, the male lead is really a kind of background figure. He is a moral instructor for the heroine, but he's not particularly sexy. Whereas in the films, of course, he's very sexy," she said.

"I think this turns the films into something that the novels are not, which is more narrowly romantic."

To coincide with the author's 250th birthday, Sutherland is organizing an exhibition in Oxford called "Dancing with Jane Austen" with costumes from the films and examples of her writings about balls.