The owls' new residence has forced the Piper football team to move its final two home games from its Sunrise campus.
The Oct. 30 game will now be played at Miramar High and the Nov. 12 game at South Broward. Nov. 12 also is scheduled to be Senior Night. It's also likely the boys' and girls' soccer teams will have to play most of their seasons, which begin early next month, at a local community park.
"Right now we have a football program that's trying to build and go in the right direction," Piper coach Matthew Lewis said. "We're dealing with the sudden change and this provides an excellent opportunity for us to handle adversity."
The football players on Piper (3-3) weren't too keen about any owl encounters.
"They're small, but I don't want to get close to them," said Piper senior cornerback Nevin Lawson.
The owls have the upper hand under Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission rules that classify them as a species of special concern. The owls have a high vulnerability to factors that may lead to their becoming a threatened species if they are left without protection or management.
Damien Huttenhoff, Broward County Schools director of student support, said the School Board will give a few thousand dollars from its emergency fund to help offset the costs.
Piper athletic director Tom Marante, who named two of the owls Stan and Gladys, said he saw them Wednesday morning by their burrow. "They were just there staring at us, like asking 'What are you looking at?'
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http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/browar ... 8348.story
