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Owl Rescued by PAWS Member

The owl get some much needed nourishment

I  was on my way to town around  9:15 Saturday morning when I saw what I at first thought was a cat sitting in the snow bank on the side of Duck Creek Road.  When I got closer I realized it was an owl and I thought that it didn't look 'right'.  I met Lee in town and asked her if she wanted to come with me to the PAWS office to get bite gloves, a blanket and a crate, and then go back and see if the owl was still there. She did, and it was.  So I put on the bite gloves and touched the bird.  It turned its head but otherwise didn't move.  To keep it from panicking we put the blanket over it and nudged it into the crate, then headed to the vet, phoning to give them a heads up that we were bringing in an owl.  

The owl didn't have any injuries but was so very light weight and Dr. McLeod diagnosed it as suffering from hypothermia and starvation.  It was almost completely shut down.  He syringed some dextrose syrup down its throat and in a minute or so it started to perk up a bit.  So then Tara the vet tech held it while I pushed a couple of syringes of "recovery" cat food mixed with water into it.  We knew it was starting to feel a bit of energy when it tried to flap its wings a bit, and then reeeaallly glared at me while I was pushing the last of the 'soup' into it. Then we put it in the kennel, with hot water bottles on either side of it.  By this time it was standing erect on its own, but we don't know yet if it will survive.

The owl perked up after eating and getting warmed up

It was pretty far gone, but Dr. McLeod said that they can occasionally recover amazingly well.  If it survived the night, the odds will be a lot more in its favour.  I haven't heard anything yet. I took it in some raw wild meat that I had in my freezer, and if it has the energy and drive to eat that, it will be a good sign. I will check with them on Monday.  

Monday update:  Lee and I went in to the Vet clinic today.  The owl is still holding on, looking a lot better than when we left him on Saturday.  It is not eating though, has to be force fed, because it likes its food 'still moving', isn't really a carrion eater.  Dr. McLeod thinks it is now well enough to send to the Wildlife Rehab Centre in Vancouver and they are making arrangements for transport.

Vicki McDonald