'Sassy' elf owl rescued in Tucson becomes a big TikTok star

“Right after Thanksgiving, my stepson called me and said, ‘Did you know you got 1½ million views on TikTok?’” Hammond said.

Long before TikTok, Tucson-based Animal Experts, Inc. has shared videos on social media of their frequent wildlife rescues.

But it was one tiny and incredibly sassy owl that went viral racking up more than 21 million views on TikTok. Comments call the elf owl a diva who was “serving face for no reason” and they’re absolutely correct. Think Jessica Rabbit’s seductive eyes — but on the smallest owl in the world.

The video has gone so viral that it’s basically become a meme leading to more than 1,500 TikToks using the audio from the Animal Experts video, as people recreate the owl’s star-studded looks and slow blinks of its cat-shaped eyes.

In the video, Hammond — who runs Animal Experts with Jeff Carver — explains that the owl was stuck in an attic when the rescue company was called. He’s seen the owls in books and on TV, but never in person until the November rescue.

“It’s kind of a rare video because they are very secluded and they spend a lot of their time up here in these saguaro cavities that are made by woodpeckers,” he says in the video.

While the elf owl is perched on his hand, he offers some fun facts about the species: they feed on lizards and venomous insects; they have to hide from predators like coyotes, snakes and other owls; and when they’re threatened, they play dead.

Hundreds of commenters left the video wondering if the owl, who Hammond initially thought was a baby, was safe. The answer is yes. After capturing the owl from the attic and rehydrating it, the rescuers released the owl.

“I really got a kick out of some of the other people that were using the sound of the owl and making their own content,” Hammond says in a follow-up video.

Truthfully, Hammond didn’t actually have a TikTok before his video went viral. Usually he films the videos, then sends them off to a digital marketing company to post. He downloaded the app when he learned of his fame (or the owl’s fame, rather).

“I was very much surprised,” he says.

Animal Experts, Inc. was founded 33 years ago as a side gig while Hammond and Carver were working at Pima Animal Care Center.

When the center stopped handling wildlife concerns, dispatchers didn’t know how to direct the calls. That’s when the lightbulb went off for Hammond.

“It’s fun. We get up every day and we thank God every day for this business He provided us with,” he says. “I don’t think about retiring. I’m going to be like Joe Biden or Donald Trump going to work into my 80s.”

Follow Animal Experts on TikTok at tiktok.com/@animalexpertsaz.