News: Owls

[Alison]

California: SPCA for Monterey County rescues barn owl

The SPCA for Monterey County performed an emergency wildlife rescue this morning on El Paso Road in Salinas.

A barn owl was tangled in fishing line and unable to fly. The call originally came in to rescue an owl trapped in a barbed wire fence, but this is not what SPCA Wildlife Center Technicians found on arrival to the scene.

The rescue went smoothly and caretakers are hopeful the barn owl will be able to be released soon. Examination at the SPCA Wildlife Center revealed no fractures or dislocations, but the owl is favoring that wing so are closely monitoring the situation.

The SPCA for Monterey County is a nonprofit, independent, donor-supported humane society that has been serving the animals and people of Monterey County since 1905. They are not a chapter of any other agency and they do not have apparent organization. They shelter homeless, neglected and abused pets and livestock, and provide humane education and countless other services to the community. They are the local agency you call to investigate animal cruelty, rescue and rehabilitate injured wildlife, and aid domestic animals in distress.

The SPCA Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation Center is the only full service wildlife rehabilitation center serving Monterey County. The SPCA Wildlife Center’s professional staff operates under permits from the California Department of Fish & Game and rescues over 2,600 wild animals every year.

Online at www.SPCAmc.org.

http://www.thecalifornian.com/article/20091217/NEWS01/91217023/1002/SPCA+for+Monterey+County+rescues+barn+owl

 

[Alison]

A reward has been offered for information about the trapping of a Barred Owl last week (see post above):

The Humane Society of the United States is offering a $2,500 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for trapping a federally protected owl in Moodus last week.  

Residents found the owl struggling on Clarke Gate Road in Moodus on Wednesday. A wildlife rehabilititor captured the bird and found a rusty leghold trap clamped tightly to the owl's foot.  The injury was so bad that the owl was euthanized Friday. Trapping a federally protected bird, such as a barred owl, is a federal offense under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.

Anyone with information about the case can call the Department of Environmental Protection at (860)424-3333.

I hope they find the individual responsible and pursue this to the full extent of the law.

[Alison]

Owl Caught In Trap To Be Euthanized

Trapped Owl Found In Moodus

DEEP RIVER, Conn. -- An animal rehabilitation center in Deep River said it cannot save an owl found in a steel-jaw leg-hold trap and will have to euthanize the bird.

The barred owl was found on Clark Gate Road in Moodus Wednesday with a trapping device hanging from its right foot.

Officials captured the bird and took it to Deep River, where it will be euthanized Friday morning.

A similar incident sparked outrage among animal activists in January. The rehabilitation center, A Place Called Hope, called for a ban of the traps, but the law never made it past the Judiciary Committee.

Members of the center said they will continue to push for the traps to be made illegal.

http://www.wfsb.com/news/21735507/detail.html

There is a video of the owl at the link - what a beautiful Barred Owl. This is just so very sad.

 

[Alison]

Great Horned Owl at Raptor Education Group improving

On October 24, a young female Great Horned Owl was admitted to REGI. From the site:

Later this evening we admitted a beautiful young female Great-horned Owl that had been shot. She was lucky to have been found by caring people that called and brought her to REGI as soon as they could. The owl weighs only 2 lbs which is well under her normal weight. She is anemic and was dehydrated as well. She was stabilized and put in a heated box for the night. Tomorrow we will have a better idea as to her prognosis. Shooting is illegal for these state and federally protected birds but it seems there are those out there that either don't understand that or don't care. It is a sad statement for our society.



Today's update is much more encouraging:

This Great-horned Owl in the photo [below] is a great story. She was admitted after she was shot. She was not found for several days or more after the incident. By the time she arrived she was suffering from starvation. The starvation was so advanced we were fairly certain she would not be able to survive. The young owl surprised us with her pluck and determination. She is now eating on her own and beginning to fly. She has months of rehabilitation ahead of her before release. She will likely be with us through the winter season. When a bird is starved, the flight muscles are atrophied. They are unable to fly. That is why our exercise flights are so important as they need to build their muscles up to a normal state.



http://raptoreducationgroup.blogspot.com/

[Alison]

Owl takes a break on North Sea platform

A migrating owl caused a stir after landing on a North Sea oil platform.

Workers on Brae Bravo thought it was a hoot when they found the long-eared owl, which was covered in grease and oil.  Staff on the Marathon Oil installation cleaned up the owl, fed and watered it and sent it on a boat to be cared for at a rescue centre.  

Today an RSPB expert said the nocturnal creature would have been migrating south for the winter – and decided to have a rest on the way.  Hywel Maggs, the RSPB’s regional farmland birds officer, described the bird as a “stowaway” on the platform, which is 130 miles off the coast of Aberdeen.  

Mr Maggs said: “The long-eared owl is a resident species in the UK but also in northern Europe.  
“Birds from Northern Europe and Scandinavia will be migrating during the Autumn to the UK and further south. And this bird would have been on its way to its wintering ground. The owl has ended up on a platform as quite often birds that are on route will stop off wherever possible.”

The bird, which has distinctive long ears and piercing orange eyes, was dubbed Ollie by staff on the platform.  Mr Maggs said the stop-off-point in the open sea would have been too much of a temptation to resist for the owl.  And he said the main reason for the bird’s stop would have been to have a break from its journey.

 

http://www.eveningexpress.co.uk/Article.aspx/1476084?UserKey=