More Hootin' Than Hollerin' At USF Stadium

The University of Sioux Falls football team has a few new fans that have been camped out at Bob Young Stadium for the past three months.

But they aren't doing a lot of hootin' and hollerin' - just hootin'.

A Great Horned Owl and her two babies have been nesting in the stands at Bob Young Stadium for a few months now, getting a bird's-eye view.
 
"They watched the spring game with us, so they are used to the fans already," USF Building and Grounds Keeper John Poppenga said. 
 
Poppenga has seen all sorts of varmints and rodents at the stadium, but never owls.
 
"The mother I had been watching for three months and I stumbled across one of the babies one day about two weeks later, I saw the other one, kind of startled me when I saw the other one, the twins, that's all I've been calling them so far is the twins," Poppenga said. 

Poppenga has taken pictures of the birds, but he's also taken them under his wing; protecting them from others and others from them because of their sharp claws and powerful beaks. 
 
 "I'm trying to keep people from getting hurt, they're a wild animal," Poppenga said.

The owlets are learning to fly right now and like to perch themselves on the goal post from time to time, but, as you can see other birds aren't as wise as the owls and their defense, because they have Poppenga on their side, who makes sure they get back to their nests safely. 
 
"Hopefully they grow up and leave, we can't have them here forever," Poppenga said.

During the spring game and football camps, Poppenga has been blocking off the upper area where the nest is to keep people from disturbing the owls.