Electric…light…power…fluff up!

Twitter user @darkness_00921 loves animals a lot, so much that he even keeps a few at home. You may be expecting a dog, a cat, or perhaps even a cute hamster…but @darkness_00921, who also goes by “Shu”, has a taste in pets that runs a little outside the typical.

Like many pet owners, Shu posts pictures and videos of the little critters that share a home with him. He has a variety of snakes and a turtle, and also a Northern White-Faced Owl named Ru. Ru has been attracting a lot of attention across the Internet due to a delightful set of photographs that Shu snapped, showing the owl immediately after he turned the lights on and a couple of seconds later.

▼ “This is how the owl looks right after I turn the lights on after coming home. It goes back to normal right away, haha.”

The sudden action, as well as the light, triggers the owl’s defense mechanism. It immediately draws itself in as thin as possible, elongates its body to make itself appear even thinner, and narrows its eyes into relatively imperceptible slits. This emphasizes the feathery “horns” atop its head and helps it to resemble a tree branch. This mode is thought to disguise it from much larger predators, and also has the effect of making the owl look really badass, like an anime protagonist suiting up for battle mode.

▼ You can practically hear its anti-hero “tsch”.

▼ You’re approaching me…?

As soon as Ru realizes that the person who switched on the lights is the same old Shu as always, it reverts back into a regular owl form — the horn-like feathers are disguised with plush plumage, its face fattens out into an adorable, plump disc, and the feathers ruffle outwards into a wispy mass.

▼ Is this its deceptively precious civilian form?

The stark difference between Ru’s two forms has resulted in a flurry of feathery feedback. Fans praised the owl’s dramatic facial expressions and cooed happily over the replies, where Shu posted a gallery’s worth of photos and videos of Ru being adorable.

▼ “The same thing happens during sleep and bathing. The two extra pics are just some personal favorites.”

▼ Time for head pets.

Ru isn’t the only amazing sight to behold on Shu’s Twitter account. He demonstrates how to feed all manner of animals, not even limiting himself to the ones he keeps at home — everything from frogs and butterflies to spectacled caimans and sharks are showcased in great detail whenever he goes on trips, and he’s very encouraging to anyone who wants to learn more about unusual animals.

Source: Twitter/@darkness_00921 via Netlab
Images: Twitter/@darkness_00921, used with permission
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