SCOOT does not want to come out. Hidden under a bush, her big brown eyes peer from the undergrowth, nervously watching for any footsteps by the humans.

The little barn owl "scoots" behind the bushes every time she is taken to her perch, hence her name. But at least here, in her protective enclave, a large back garden in North Yorkshire, she is safe.

Neil Fowler, who runs the Scotton Owl and Raptor Rehabilitation (Soarr) sanctuary with his wife, Juliana, said Scoot was slowly learning to trust humans again, after her traumatic early years.

"Scoot was kept in a small cage which was supposed to be an aviary, but was more like a parrot cage kept in a house," he said.

"She always runs away from you. Because she was kept in a small box, she had nothing to look at and attract her attention.

"She can't use her feet for holding food, because she doesn't know how to. We take her round to the schools to show what humans can do to a bird.

"She is mentally scarred - and will be for life."

The couple have homed Scoot with male barn owl Barny, in the hope she will bond and learn from him.

Scoot is one of 16 birds at the sanctuary, which includes kestrels, European eagle owls, Turkmanian eagle owls, falcons and tawny owls.

The Fowlers met while Juliana, 42, was in Germany working as a falconer and Neil, 39, who works as a technical manager for British American Tobacco, in Darlington, was in the country on business.

When he returned home, Mr Fowler spent six months finding the perfect home, with land, so Juliana could bring her two saker falcons to England.

They found their bolt-hole in North Yorkshire, with two acres of land to fly Juliana's birds - but it was not long before a few more visitors came to stay.

The sanctuary was formed in 1998 and the couple have since returned 31 birds to the wild, rehoming others and keeping some at the sanctuary.

"We didn't intend to have a sanctuary, but it just happened," said Juliana.

It costs the pair about £13,000 a year to feed the birds, pay vet's bills and buy all the equipment, which includes gloves, baths, perches and material for building aviaries.

Some of the birds have distressing backgrounds similar to Scoot and the couple feel angry when they think of the people who buy birds of prey and have no idea about how to handle, feed or house them.

"There are three times more barn owls in captivity than in the wild. They need about 400km of hedgerow for their own survival, plus something like an old building to live in - not a box," said Mr Fowler.

* To make a donation to the sanctuary contact (01748) 830112. Unwanted products which are useful include timber, netting, fence panels and shower trays.