Rescued an owl this week

[Kays vRS]

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.

[Kays vRS]

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.

[Kays vRS]

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.

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.

[Kays vRS]

The story has a happy ending - I called the vets on Monday; the owl is still there, appears to be recovering well and is eating everything they put in front of it

I might give them another call soon for an update and to see if it's been released.

[Kays vRS]

It's amazing to see them close up, they're lovely creatures

[Kays vRS]

blueg33 said:

Excellent Op

What will the vets do with it? Who is paying the bill? or should that be whooooo is payingt the bill? Ar eyou the twit whoooooo will pay

The vet said that if it recovered they would take it to a local rescue centre and it would be released from there. From what the vet said on Monday the owl was recovering well so I would imagine it will be moved on soon (hopefully).

I didn't have to pay anything - maybe you don't normaly have to for wild animals? Although it did cost me four hours of my day to rescue it

The owl wasn't local to me (I was staying in a hootel) so I probably won't see it again. I'll give the vet another day or so before I pester them for an update.

blueg33 said:

Blue Junior works on the weekend at the local wildlife rescue place, they have lots of owls. It may be worth seeing if you have something similar nearby as they will know how to look after it properly and prepare it for re-release.

Vale Wildlife Rescue

That's brilliant

[Kays vRS]

I've just been speaking to the vet; the owl's fit and well again and is at the rescue centre waiting to be released

[Kays vRS]

I like virtual pints. Even more than virtual cookies

It's being released today, they just gave me a call to let me know