A raptor recovery story for BlessedFamily

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This is for Amber, as a bit of a tribute and a salute to her and her (truly blessed family) for taking care of Reese the dog.

I wanted to relate another story with a happy ending to hopefully add some more warmth to everyone's hearts and a bit of humor as well.

I was driving about on the country roads searching for a river access point and just "road-tripping" and enjoying the warm spring day when I saw a truck coming down another side road. The driver didn't notice it, but he spooked an owl that was in the ditch and the owl flew out in front of the truck and got struck by the front fender/grill and bounced back into the ditch.

I knew that the bird had to have been hurt because he didn't get up and fly away. So I drove along the ditch side to locate him. I found him and sure enough, it was obvious that his wing had been broken.

I did my best to collect him without incurring any more pain to the little fella. I managed to get him grasped so that his wings would lay flat against his sides in a normal position and then put him in the cab of my truck on the passenger side on the seat. I didn't have any box or pet-carrier to put him in, so I was kinda taking a chance that he would just get calm and stay there. He had been "snapping" his beak at me and squirming quite a bit, but once in the truck, he seemed to calm down very well.

I drove him back to my cabin and brought him inside. He sat there on the front seat of the truck all the way like a well trained dog. Once back at the cabin, I started making phone calls to the local pet shops and vets and finally got a telephone number for the Raptor Recovery center in Lincoln, Nebraska. They gave me the name of a lady who worked with them who had a second job in my home town at a bar/cafe. I called her and she said whe would take the owl in to the Raptor Recovery center in Lincoln and would meet me the next morning at the bar.

I kept the owl in my cabin overnight and just let him run freely. I set out a bowl of water and some raw chicken meat in case he felt like eating or drinking. I don't know if it touched anything, but he definitely had a good meal before hand because he "pooped" everywhere! On the floor, on the couch on the chairs! Ha Ha, dirty little bugger!

The next morning, I got up and took him with me in the truck to town (about 16 miles or so). He was quite content and didn't snap at me or anything. He sat on the passenger seat most of the way. But, he got a little interested in what was going on outside, so he jumped up on the arm rest and looked out the passemger window.

I happened to pass a semi-truck while he was there, looking out. The driver of the semi happened to look over and see him. I thought he was going to have an accident! I could tell by the look on the driver's face that he was freaked out! LOL. His eyes were as big as platters. I guess he had never seen an owl riding in a truck before. Or maybe he thought it was one really weird looking dog? Like something from the Island of Doctor Moreau.

Well, I got the little fella into town. The lady from the Raptor Recovery center met me out back and she was amazed that I didn't have him in a cage and that he was so calm. She even thought that I was a bit daring because even a hurt owl could inflict some real damage to a person with their beaks and talons if they wanted to. When I opened the door and the owl came right to me and allowed me to pick it up without a squabble, she was impressed or befuddled or something.

She took him in and got him down to the recovery center in Lincoln and patched him up. I call the center from time to time to check on him and they informed me that "The Professor" was doing right well. I named him that after the Professor on Gilligan's Island.

They were eventually able to release him back into the wild after his wing had been treated and healed.

I thought I would share this story with you all and especially with Amber because I thought it would make everyone feel positive, happy and all warm inside! :)

We were assured that it was a male owl as we identified it as a young adult, great horned owl and the males of this species are small, like 1/3 - 1/2 the size of the females. The gal from the raptor recovery center comfirmed the species and the sex.

Hope you enjoyed the story, and keep on enjoying and caring for your pets and the wildlife around your home. It is such a blessing that God bestowed upon us to have such wonders.

Gordy
 

j.w

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I like to hear those kinds of happy endings. Thanks for sharing Gordy and doing such a nice thing for the Professor! You will be rewarded in Heaven for your kind actions.
 

addy1

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How neat Gordy, so glad you helped the owl, I think they are so beautiful
 
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Wow, what a wonderful story to share, Gordy. I sure hope Blessed sees it, I sure got all warm inside when I read it. I wondered all along in your story what type of owl, since you kept calling him "little" and was surprised it wasn't a screech owl, as they are pretty small, but instead was a male Great Horned Owl. That was amazing that he didn't try to eat you for lunch being hurt and all, and in just a day trusted you to keep him safe. What a great ending, too!
 

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I have always been a critter saver, breaks my heart to see the animals killed along the roads. The same reason the heron is still with us, will not and can not kill it. My parents got used to me bring home injured or abandoned critters and try to nurse them back to health.
 
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Thanks J.W., Addy1 and CountryEscape,

I just LOVE animals and the outdoors so very much! I spend as much time outside, on the river or in the woods, as I can (away from town as far as I can get). Not that I have anything against people, but the outdoors and nature is kind of like a "church" to me. I have some very nice stories about nature because of this. It's also why stories like BlessedFamily and Reese make me feel really good inside.

It's also why I am a "catfisherman" rather than a "sports-fisherman". There is a big difference in the two forms of fishing. With sport-fishing (I mean like bass or crappie or something), you are always moving, casting and changing position and making some noise. In my form of fishing, I cast my line, then sit down, silently in the brush or grass along the bank and wait. Wait for a fish to bite or for a critter to come up to me and investigate. Frogs, turtles, snakes, muskrats, beaver, otters, woodchucks, wild turkeys, cranes and herons, ducks, deer, foxes, hummingbirds, bluebirds, eagles, hawks, mice, raccoons, opossum, etc, you can just about name it. If we have it around here, I have seen them up close when fishing.

Why, even when I was 4 or 5 years old, I even saw BigFoot once! My folks tell me that it was just a moose, but I really think it was BigFoot! :)

Here is another "fun" story for you to enjoy.

Out at my cabin, I have many woodchucks (groundhogs). I see them scurrying around when I drive into my lane.

I also have an old, hand-dug well in the front yard. The well is brick-lined and about 6 feet deep with a concrete cap around the top which cones inward as it comes to the top.

One day I drove in and there were three woodchucks peering down into the well and making all sorts of noise. It sounds like they are saying "jeep", "jeep", "jeeeep" in a a very high pitched almost squeal. There were two small ones and one large woodchuck and they all scattered for cover when I stopped in the lane.

I kept frogs in the bottom of the well for fishing bait. The bottom was void of standing water, but was damp or moist and shady. I thought the woodchucks might have been interested in my frogs for some reason (although they are herbivores). When I peered down into the well, I found another very LARGE woodchuck at the bottom.

My belief is that this one was "Papa" and the other three were "Mama" and the kids, Billy (William) and Willabelle! ;)

Papa got too curious and fell into the well and Mama and the two kids were crying and trying to figure out how to get Papa out. I figured that they weren't going to be able to help him and he certainly couldn't scale the straight up and down walls that curved in at the top like a bottle. So, I devised a plan of rescue.

I tied a rope around the handle of a five gallon bucket and dropped it into the well, so that it would lay down on its side at the bottom. I thought Papa might crawl into it to investigate and then I could lift him up and out like an elevator. But, Papa wasn't too interested in the bucket. He kept shrinking away from the bucket no matter how I turned it.

So, I pondered for a moment. Then I got an idea to try. I started "jeeping" at him. Jeep, jeep, Jeeep, Jeeep, jeep! Papa looked up at me and bristled his nose, walked around the bottom a bit, then looked up at me and then looked into the bucket.... Crawled in and turned his butt around and sat down with his nose facing out. I slowly uprighted the bucket and began to lift it out of the well. Papa didn't stir or fuss, he rode the bucket all the way to the top until he could see the grass over the top of the well, then he FLEW out of the bucket like a blurry, flurry of fur and raced for home!

I expect that the Woodchuck family hugged eachother and cried joyous tears, then sat down for a special Thanksgiving dinner of stored clover and dandielion greens! :)

After then, I made a cover for the well to keep curious woodchucks from falling in.

Gordy

p.s. If you are extremely patient and amazingly lucky, you can get close enough to pet them and even scratch them behind the ears, just like a dog. They have extremely soft fur and I could almost swear they have a nerve just like a dog that makes them scratch! The one I got that close to sure acted like he/she loved it just as much as a dog does.
 

j.w

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Neat story Gordy! I can just picture the wood chucks all celebrating that evening around the table,lol!
 

addy1

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How neat Gordy, charlie lives under our garage, loves our falling apples.
 
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How neat Gordy, charlie lives under our garage, loves our falling apples.

Addy,

So you rent out the "basement" of your garage to a Woodchuck? LOL! Be cautious, they're not very forthcoming with the rent money! Ha ha

Good woodchucks, they are, but not too reliable on the money side. And, you know, they are just like all the woodchucks you've seen on TV. They come around when you are not home and chuck your wood in the pond just for spite or fun or whatever! They have a vandalistic streak in them!

You woodchucks, quit chuckin' my wood!

LOL Gordy
 

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Addy,

So you rent out the "basement" of your garage to a Woodchuck? LOL! Be cautious, they're not very forthcoming with the rent money! Ha ha

Good woodchucks, they are, but not too reliable on the money side.

LOL Gordy

Aww now that makes sense why we have not seen any rent money from charlie. He does leave stinky presents off and on, real stinky.
 
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Aww now that makes sense why we have not seen any rent money from charlie. He does leave stinky presents off and on, real stinky.

ROFLMAO! Yeah, they will do that alright! :)

I think they are awfully neat critters, like a really big, fat, cute guinea pig. But, they are very destructive to the cabins around here and everyone else wants to eliminate them because of it. Feel sorry for that, but they do have to be kept under control, population-wise. They do do much damage and they also "doo-doo" where you don't wish them to.

Gordy
 

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We only see one around here, charlie. So far leaves the gardens alone, the pond, but likes the apples when they fall. Usually hangs out in the woods and the back field.
 

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