Owls in the Family

Written by Canadian environmentalist Farley Mowat and set in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, the 1961 middle-grade novel Owls in the Family follows the adventures of an animal-loving boy named Billy and his collection of pets, focusing specifically upon the antics of his two owls, Wol and Weeps. Billy’s decision to save the two young owls changes his life in a myriad of ways, for he and the rest of his motley menagerie, including an old dog named Mutt from Mowat’s earlier story, The Dog Who Wouldn’t Be, must learn how to live with one another in harmony. Although the owls become notorious for causing chaos in Billy’s home and around town, they become invaluable family members and companions for Billy and his friends. After many years of adventures, Billy and his family must move away from the rural life of Saskatchewan to the urban world of Toronto, Ottawa. The owls can no longer live with Billy, but because they have been living with humans since they were small, they cannot be safely released into the wild. None of Billy’s friends are able to take the owls except for Bruce, whose family has moved away from Saskatoon to run a fox farm. Billy drives the owls to Bruce’s house and vows to come back for them someday.

This guide refers to the version of Owls in the Family printed in 1996 by Yearling, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books.

Content Warning: Owls in the Family contains descriptions of animal violence and cruelty to animals.

Plot Summary

When spring arrives in Saskatchewan, Billy cannot wait to get outside to explore the prairies right beyond the edges of Saskatoon. He and his friend Bruce head into the brisk air searching for owl nests, but their efforts to capture young owls are unsuccessful even after they enlist the help of their teacher, Mr. Miller. After a big storm the following week, the boys recruit another friend named Murray and return to discover that all the baby owls have died in the storm except one, who is still too young to fly. Although the owl is timid at first, the boys win its trust with food, and it starts to follow them home. Billy puts the owl in his haversack and takes him home, naming him Wol after the owl in Winnie-the-Pooh.

Once home, Wol has some difficulty adjusting to his new surroundings. Billy’s initial plan to put him in the summerhouse with his thirty pet gophers results in chaos, as Wol proves to be just as frightened of the gophers as they are of him. Unsure of where else to put Wol, Billy brings him into his room, which frightens the family’s maid and causes her to quit. Finally, with the help of his dad, Billy makes a cage designed just for Wol.

In his cage, Wol seems lonely by himself, but this problem is solved a few weeks later when Billy happens upon some boys from town abusing a small baby owl in an oil-drum barrel. Billy manages to save the owl without having to fight the boys and brings the owl back to his house to live with Wol. He names the new owl Weeps because of the sad sounds the owl makes, and the two birds quickly bond.

The new arrangement works well, and Billy and his owls are inseparable whenever he is out of school. As they mature, the two owls continue to grow and show new aspects of their individual quirks and personalities. Wol fearlessly teaches himself to fly after many attempts, but he is very picky about his choice of foods. Just before school ends for the summer, Wol discovers how to escape his cage, a feat that worries Billy because he does not want the owl to get hurt. As it turns out, Billy should have saved his worry for the mischief the owl might cause, for rather than getting hurt, Wol ends up killing a cat and maiming a dog, proving to everyone that he can defend himself quite well. Weeps, on the other hand, is not independent at all. He stays on the ground unless someone picks him up and is happy to eat any type of food offered to him. Once summer comes, the owls go everywhere with Billy, which keeps all the bullies from bothering him, for they are universally afraid of owls.

That summer, the boys and their many animals, most of which were once wild, go on a variety of raucous adventures that inevitably end in chaos. Their various antics include a pet parade, an escaped skunk in the house, and a campout in a cave, during which Wol frightens away a pack of bullies. Wol and Weeps even accompany Billy and his family on vacation each summer, an arrangement that also usually ends up in some small disaster.

The owls become well known around town because they always accompany Billy and his friends, especially Wol, who “never quite realized he was an owl” (69). Eventually, Wol becomes a house owl, where he is able to come and go from Billy’s home as he pleases rather than remaining outside. When Billy returns to school at the end of the summer, Wol refuses to leave him, following him to school and causing chaos there, too.

When the owls are three years old, Billy’s dad takes a new job that requires him to move his family from the prairies of Saskatchewan to the urban environment of Toronto. Because Toronto is a very busy city, Billy cannot take the owls with him, and none of his friends’ parents will allow the owls to live with them. To make matters worse, Wol and Weeps cannot simply be released into the wild, as they have never learned how to fend for themselves. In desperation, Billy reaches out to his friend, Bruce, and asks whether he would be able to care for the owls on his fox farm. Bruce agrees, and Billy and his father drive the owls there. After spending time building a new cage for the owls, Billy leaves, telling the owls that he will come back if he can.