Photograph by Brinson + Banks
As one half of Atlanta’s most famous rap export, Outkast, fans expect Big Boi to splash his cash extravagantly.
Having already invested in his own record label, Purple Ribbon, and recording space, Stankonia Studios, one of Big Boi’s biggest outlays these days is animals. “My grandfather was a hunter, and he used to breed German shepherds,” Big Boi says. “Me and my siblings used to take care of the puppies.” Over the past 30 years, Big Boi and his brother James Patton have bred and rescued American bullies, French bulldogs, and English bulldogs at Pitfall Kennels, a 25-acre dog sanctuary in South Atlanta.
Given Big Boi’s status as one of the most eclectic and subversive musicians in modern history, it would be disappointing if his taste in animals wasn’t a little idiosyncratic—and his relationship with two Eurasian eagle-owls thoroughly ticks that box. Hootie and HOO-Dini, the brother-and-sister pair named after the 1994 Outkast song and legendary escapologist, respectively, have been part of Big Boi’s life for seven years.
His fascination with owls began in 2000, when one appeared in the fauna-filled video for Outkast’s smash-hit single, “Ms. Jackson.” “That experience was a bit of foreshadowing,” he says, because the owl in that video turned out to be an Eurasian eagle-owl. “I didn’t realize it at the time, but [that owl] happened to be the same sort of bird.”
In the years after, Big Boi purchased a cockatoo from a flea market. But it never satiated his craving for an owl. Finally, he asked his assistant, Shea, herself a parrot and exotic-bird owner, to see if there was a chance of acquiring the nocturnal creature. In 2018, Shea discovered Roy Lau, an exotic-animal trainer, who introduced Big Boi to two owls. “I just really thought it would be cool to have them,” Big Boi recalls. “They ended up being so lovable. You can just pet them like dogs.”
Big Boi says Hootie is much more laid-back than HOO-Dini, who has the tendency to be energetic. Mostly, though, they’re “super chill” and spend much of the day resting on their perches. “As long as you have adequate space, freedom, and food,” he says, “they’re very self-contained.”
Lau has guardianship of the owls, and they spend much of their time in his licensed aviary. Federal and state laws prohibit owning raptors as pets. A raptor’s care and handling can be performed by an unlicensed individual only under the direct supervision of a licensed trainer, and raptors must be housed with a licensed individual/facility for security. According to the International Owl Center website, raptors may only be possessed by someone who is trained and licensed, and only while being rehabilitated, being used as foster parents in a rehabilitation facility, as part of a breeding program, or for educational purposes (certain species may be used for falconry in some states, including Georgia).
Big Boi has been known to bring the owls to the music studio, because people love to see them. He also took one of them onstage for a performance during a Kennesaw State University football game in 2023. It got spooked and tried to fly away but was leashed to Big Boi’s right hand.
He says they’re most fun to watch around feeding time, which occurs at a specific time of day; at other times, he notes, they squeak incessantly. Since Hootie and HOO-Dini’s go-to meal is frozen mice, Big Boi has an individual freezer full of stiff rodents. “You don’t want that next to your turkey meat and ground beef,” he laughs. “It’s not for the faint of heart.”
Big Boi has been enthusiastically growing his animal menagerie over the years. He has various dogs, Persian cats, and an aquarium full of fish. He currently has his eye on exotic chickens, which can lay colorful eggs. He’s even considered a finger monkey—also known as a pygmy marmoset, which even full-grown is only about the size of a human palm—but is worried it will get lost in his house.
It’s not all been smooth sailing. In 2020, inspired by the documentary TV series Tiger King, Big Boi bought a four-month old tiger cub, which he named Bodhi. “I thought I would be able to keep a tiger in my house,” he says. “Boy, was I wrong. I was wrong, wrong, wrong.”
After returning from a months-long tour, Big Boi was startled to see how big the previously cute and tiny Bodhi had become. “It was like being in the Ringling Brothers or Barnum & Bailey,” he says. Bodhi is now in a tiger sanctuary zoo in North Georgia.
After that experience, he quickly paused plans to get a jaguar. “You just can’t domesticate an apex predator,” he says. “I’ve seen too many shows and attractions to know how that ends up.”
He looks forward to helping care for Hootie and HOO-Dini for the long run (in captivity, Eurasian eagle-owls can live past 60 years old). Big Boi regards them as his “extended family”; he says they often act as “personal little muses” to his music. “Whenever people see them up close, they’re in awe,” he says. “When you look them directly in the eyes, it’s like they’re looking deep into your soul. They’re just so wise and cool.”
Editor’s Note: This story has been updated from the print version to reflect the laws regarding ownership of raptors.
This article appears in our June 2025 issue.
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