Yesterday, as my afternoon was winding down, the phone rang. It was Reg. "Wanna go on a rescue? This is a really cool one."
He told me that a Great Horned Owl had hit the window of a farm house the night before. The family living there heard that big noise and rushed outside, looking for something large and injured in the dark. They did not find anything; but the next morning they discovered an unexpected guest in their chicken run: the owl had somehow made his way down the bank and inside the net enclosure, and was now peacefully perched on the side of the chicken coop.
I'm sure there was a great deal of head scratching and some hoping that the owl would be well enough to find his way out soon. Plus the steady-busy routines of a small farm. One way or the other, the residents eventually found out about MARS and made the right phone call.
Reg asked me to capture and examine the owl, release him if he was strong and seemed uninjured, and call him back if I saw any sign of injury.
I had lots of good help over there. The owl, small for a GHO so probably a male, let us approach to within a few feet before he even reacted - not a good sign. I was only a foot away when he flew into the coop, where I cornered him easily. All the wing bones seemed stable, but his gaze seemed really fixed; he wasn't following my moving hand in front of his face, just staring right ahead (but I don't know for sure what is normal). He had some bruised-looking red colouring at the base of his beak. You could see the imprint on the window where he had hit, a full-on face plant.
So in the carrier he went while we worked on a transport plan. By that time, it was getting late, and sending him to MARS that evening was becoming problematic. But I was planning to go to town today anyhow, so Reg suggested that I keep the owl at home overnight.
And so I did. I put his carrier in a warm and quiet room. I built him a low perch, which he soon used. When I put the perch in his box, he clacked his beak at me for the first time, letting me know that my attention was unwelcome. Good! At dawn he started moving about, and he seemed much more awake, and more combative. This is a very good thing! Also the colouring on his beak had faded from purple-red to red-brown.
So we took the trip to Merville, certainly an ordeal for that poor owl, but he made it through and is now in care of MARS! The people who found him called him Zen. He is now getting the best of care, and I'm hoping that he will make it through and that we will see news of him on this thread.
