Zeus, the Blind Owl Whose Eyes Look Like an Entire Universe

At first glance, Zeus does not look like an ordinary owl.

Look closely into his enormous dark eyes and something extraordinary appears. Tiny white and silver flecks seem to float against the darkness, scattered like distant stars across a night sky.

Some people see constellations.

Others see galaxies.

It almost looks as though someone captured a photograph of deep space and placed it inside the eyes of a tiny owl.

But Zeus was not born with magical eyes, nor is this celestial appearance a normal characteristic of his species.

Behind those remarkable eyes is a story of injury, disability, rescue and survival.

Zeus is a Western screech owl who was found emaciated and blind on the front porch of a home in Central California. After receiving veterinary treatment, he recovered physically, but his eyesight could not be restored sufficiently for him to return safely to the wild.

According to the Wildlife Learning Center, Zeus is believed to have only around 10 percent of his normal vision.

For a wild owl that must navigate through darkness, locate prey and avoid danger, such severe visual impairment can make independent survival nearly impossible.

So instead of being released, Zeus was eventually given a permanent home at the Wildlife Learning Center in California in the summer of 2012.

There, the little owl with almost no sight would unexpectedly become one of the most memorable wildlife ambassadors on the internet.

And the very condition that prevented him from returning to the wild would give him the feature that made millions of people remember him.

His eyes looked like the universe.

A Small Owl in Serious Trouble

Zeus's story did not begin with fame.

It began with an animal in distress.

According to the Wildlife Learning Center, Zeus was originally found on someone's front porch in Central California. He was emaciated and blind.

A wildlife rehabilitation facility took him in, and veterinarians worked to restore his health.

His body could recover.

His eyesight was a different matter.

Veterinary specialists determined that his vision was so severely impaired that he could not safely be returned to nature.

The Wildlife Learning Center says Zeus is believed to retain only about 10 percent of his vision.

That would be a serious disability for almost any wild animal, but it creates particular difficulties for an owl.

Western screech owls are nocturnal predators. After sunset, they leave their daytime roosts and hunt a variety of prey.

According to the Wildlife Learning Center, their diet can include mice, voles, pocket gophers, small birds, lizards, snakes, frogs and insects.

Finding those animals requires a combination of specialized senses and behaviors.

Owls are famous for their hearing, but vision also plays an important role in their ability to move through their environment and hunt successfully.

An owl that cannot see well enough to navigate, identify obstacles or pursue prey faces enormous disadvantages.

Releasing Zeus simply because he was physically strong again would therefore not necessarily have been an act of kindness.

In wildlife rehabilitation, the ultimate goal is usually to return an animal to the wild whenever that animal is capable of surviving independently.

But sometimes an injury leaves permanent limitations.

Zeus was one of those cases.

He was classified as non-releasable.

His wild life was over.

His second life was about to begin.

The Eyes That Made Everyone Stop

Once Zeus had recovered, another feature attracted attention.

His eyes were unlike anything most people had ever seen.

Instead of the normal appearance expected in a Western screech owl, Zeus's eyes contained numerous pale flecks and patterns.

Against the dark background, those spots appeared almost luminous.

Photographed at close range, the resemblance to a star-filled sky was extraordinary.

But the effect was not cosmetic, and it was not a rare natural eye color.

It was associated with his medical condition.

Reports quoting information provided by the Wildlife Learning Center described Zeus as having several ocular problems, including conjunctivitis, corneal degeneration, endotheliopathy and anterior uveitis. His general condition has also been described as a capsular cataract.

The distinctive white flecks are associated with fibrin and blood-pigment clots.

Fibrin is a protein involved in blood clotting. Following tissue damage, it plays a role in forming clots and helping the body respond to injury.

In Zeus's case, the unusual material visible inside his damaged eyes produced an appearance no caretaker could have planned.

The result looked remarkably like stars.

It was a strange paradox.