<p>Hi all,</p>
<p>I was wondering, is there an aviary in Rice? Are students allowed to get their own owls? It would be so cool to be able to have your own Hedwig (maybe not for letter delivery)!</p>
<p>per the campus housing department:</p>
<p>PETSOther than fish and plants (of the non-flesh eating varieties), no pets are
allowed. No exceptions. If friends or families visit with pets, please do not
bring them indoors. Five minutes inside can equal five weeks of fleas for the
college.</p>
<p>and no I don’t think there is an aviary</p>
<p>Haha if only…
There are actual owls living on campus though! I’ve never seen them myself, but I hear they live in the trees behind Fondren Library. You can see pictures on the Rice website.</p>
<p>^ whoa, that’s so cool! :O</p>
<p>On a side note, I’ve always loved that they specify that we can only have plants of the non-flesh eating variety.</p>
<p>^ think that applies to the fish as well. No piranhas allowed.</p>
<p>Oh, I’m really glad to have that information. I was planning on bringing in a huge tank filled with piranhas and small sharks next semester. hahaha</p>
<p>Sorry to ruin your most evil plan. I guess James Bond will live, after all.</p>
<p>Hopefully they didn’t learn to specify that the hard way. That would have made for an interesting party.</p>
<p>You joke, but there was a Houston Groupon for tiny sharks a few months back…some of my friends were going to buy them and build a giant fishtank into the base of their bar, but it expired :(</p>
<p>I want to pet some owls… that sounds weird, I know. I just think they’re the cutest things.</p>
<p>Aww ok D=</p>
<p>Wondering, how close can the students get to the owls? Are the afraid of students? I would love to be able to pat one or something XD.</p>
<p>I doubt they will let you get close to them. They usually perch high atop trees.</p>
<p>
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<p>I rescued two baby owls my junior year of high school and kept them for a while before releasing them to their nest. They are super cute.</p>
<p>You won’t get close to the owls but the other birds and the squirrels on the ground will not hesitate to approach you. There was one instance where I was walking through the central quad and a squirrel charged at three people consecutively, one being me. And another one where I had to walk around a squirrel cause it wouldn’t move. They are not afraid of us at all. haha</p>
<p>Dear God, the squirrels. After my on-campus interview in October, I sat down at a table for a moment, and in the tree adjacent to me was a squirrel just giving me this absolute death glare, for a solid minute or two.</p>
<p>…I don’t know what I did to make it angry…</p>
<p>I love the squirrels! I have a picture of me feeding them after my Rice interview (:</p>
<p>They are always either friendly or aggressive. I think it depends on whether or not they can get food from you. I had a friend high-five one, once. I’ve also had them invade the picnic table outside our commons and steal some food.</p>
<p>There’s a Facebook page for them that you guys can Like if you want to, actually.</p>
<p>Bummer… can’t pet them. I’ll just admire the cuties from afar. :)</p>