SAN MARCOS, Calif.—
Fans of the Internet's most famous owl family had their feathers ruffled this week when Molly the mother owl left her nesting box for more than 20 hours.The live Ustream video stream of Molly, McGee and their brood of four baby owls is one of the most popular on the Web. The website was buzzing with worried followers Monday, because Molly had not been seen in her nesting box since about 12:30 a.m. Monday. Many of the website's followers, some of whom freely admit that they are suffering from MOD, or Molley Obsessive Disorder, worried that the popular owl from San Marcos had abandoned the nest for good.
Carlos Royal, the homeowner who built the webcam-equipped owl box, said it's unusual for Molly to be gone for more than a few hours at most.
"Molly had disappeared for about 20 hours, and she had never been out of the box in the daytime, and so she didn't show up during the daytime yesterday," he told Fox 5 News Tuesday. But Monday night, just after sunset, both Molly and McGee returned with food for the babies. She stayed for several hours, but she was gone again on Tuesday morning. Live Streaming by Ustream.TV
"She's missing again, but we're not worried," Royal said. "We think her behavior has changed. She's going to be outside the box and will bring food at night."
Royal said his owl show is the most popular item on Ustream and the most popular download on the iPhone. So far, the Web page has had more than 8.6 million hits, he said.
