Yikes!

10 or so years ago I was leaving Great Falls park just after dusk and found a small group of people who had left just before me pulled over by the side of the road.  One of them had hit a Barred Owl which was lying motionless on the ground.  One of the people was a hunter and wanted to "put the owl out of its misery".  I said "absolutely not, we don't know how badly injured the bird is.".  At the time I was driving a pickup with a cap on the back and had a box but no lid.  No problem.  I put the owl in the box and loosely wrapped a plastic tarp all the way around the box so that the bird would have plenty of air but wouldn't be able to get out.  Took the bird to the Montgomery County shelter; they got it to Second Chance the next day.  A month or so later I got a call from Second Chance telling me "my" owl was ready to be released and did I want to come pick it up?  Did I????   You bet!  They furnished me with the owl in a cardboard pet container and told me how to place the box and open it and just as they said, when it got dark enough the owl walked out of the box, looked around for a minute and flew off into the woods.  It was a highlight of my life!!

Sarah Anderson
Cabin John, Maryland

 


 

 

-----Original Message-----
From: Leo Weigant <>
To: 
Sent: Sun, Dec 26, 2010 5:59 pm
Subject: Re: [MDOSPREY] CRV vs. Barred Owl


    Dorothy, 
   your Xmas tale reminded me of Pete Dunn (I think) who wrote of a similar 
   occurrence with a Grt. Horned Owl.   He placed it in the back of his SUV 
   (thinking it dead) then drove on in the dark. 
   After some time he glanced in the rear view mirror to see a LARGE-eyed 
   owl standing on the back seat with wings spread and knew 
   he was in trouble. 
 
   He pulled over and opened the back door and no harm was done, 
   but his pulse did not slow for some time. 
   Glad your concern and resourceful interventions turned out 
   so well. 
      Leo Weigant 
 
On Dec 26, 2010, at 5:48 PM, Dorothy Paugh wrote: 
 
> Hi all, 
> 
> At 7:00 pm on Christmas evening a barred owl flew into our moving > vehicle on Rt. 450 just west of Rt. 3 in Bowie.  We backed up to > find whatever hit us and he did not look like he was long for this > world.   Rather than leave him in the median, we put him in a bag > in the back of our car if only to bury him in the woods.  (Word to > the wiser than me-- recommend a box that closes rather than a > shopping bag in case the patient wakes up.) 
> 
> At our house, thought we saw slight movement of one wing and so set > him down in the dark garage.  After calling a wildlife rehab person > on the state DNR list who said she'd take him, we returned to see > him standing up!  He did not resist when we boxed him although his > talons had dug into the outdoor carpet and it was tough getting > them to release. 
> 
> Drove him to Waldorf last night and today the rehab lady reports > that the small young male, with one injured eye is alert.  He may, > after a few weeks, be releasable.  Believe! 
> 
> Dorothy 
> 
> 
>