Rescued an owl this week
Discussion
I was out walking in some forestry this week that is used, among other things, for deer stalking. There were quite a few high seats and towers for shooting from. This one in particular caught my eye as it looked like a good place to have lunch:
Then I looked round the other side and saw this:
It looked like the poor thing had got itself inside the hut and not seen the netting when it tried to fly out, and got itself tangled.
Pic from inside:
I thought it was dead to begin with as it was completely motionless but it started twitching when I moved it. I had a penknife in the car, which was over a mile away, so I made a hammock for the owl out of my coat while I went to fetch it. Over an hour later I got back and managed to cut the netting and free the owl, which started struggling until I put a sock over its head. I set it down on the floor for a while, it looked at me for a minute or so before it keeled over.
I got it back to the car where it managed to get to its feet and I wrapped it in a coat and took it to the vets. He said it was very thin (it had proabably been there a few days) but otherwise uninjured. I've to give them a call in a few days to see if it survived. So hopefully I saved it.
Then I looked round the other side and saw this:
It looked like the poor thing had got itself inside the hut and not seen the netting when it tried to fly out, and got itself tangled.
Pic from inside:
I thought it was dead to begin with as it was completely motionless but it started twitching when I moved it. I had a penknife in the car, which was over a mile away, so I made a hammock for the owl out of my coat while I went to fetch it. Over an hour later I got back and managed to cut the netting and free the owl, which started struggling until I put a sock over its head. I set it down on the floor for a while, it looked at me for a minute or so before it keeled over.
I got it back to the car where it managed to get to its feet and I wrapped it in a coat and took it to the vets. He said it was very thin (it had proabably been there a few days) but otherwise uninjured. I've to give them a call in a few days to see if it survived. So hopefully I saved it.
Mobile Chicane said:
Poor little thing!
Why are the huts netted with wire? You'd think camouflage netting with a few holes cut into it would be far more effective for deer stalkers and far less harmful for wildlife.
You would think so; surely netting would get in the way? This was the only hut I saw that was like this, the rest were just open frames. The netting on this one has a nice big hole in it now.Why are the huts netted with wire? You'd think camouflage netting with a few holes cut into it would be far more effective for deer stalkers and far less harmful for wildlife.
Simpo Two said:
Sometmes it's best not to know what happened, but live in hope.
You might contact the owners of the hide though and tell them the netting is a danger to wildlife.
I'm going to contact them next week when I'm back at work. You might contact the owners of the hide though and tell them the netting is a danger to wildlife.
I would like to know if it survived or not or I'll always be wondering. At least if it doesn't survive, it was in good hands and not in a stressful situation when it died. I'll give the vet a call on Monday.
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