From Hoosier Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation
I’m not even going to lie, sometimes this field makes you forget just how incredible the animals in front of you really are. You see so much heartbreak, and so many impossible injuries, that you start bracing yourself for the worst instead of hoping for the best.
People ask me all the time, “What’s the coolest animal you’ve ever had?” And I never know how to answer. The alligator Kelsey transported to Michigan? A Great Blue Heron with a fishing hook in it? A river otter?
Lately, my answer is a perfectly ordinary male barred owl. Not particularly big. Not particularly flashy. But for a while, I genuinely didn’t think he’d ever fly again.
Originally brought to us by VEG with a suspected soft tissue injury, further veterinary examination revealed something far worse. Affectionately named Hootie by our veterinary partners, this owl had a nasty fracture and dislocation involving his wrist. His radius, ulna, and wrist joint had apparently decided they weren’t
interested in working together anymore.
For an owl, flight is everything. His initial X-rays gave us very little reason to believe he’d ever return to the wild.
But Hootie had other plans.
Follow-up X-rays showed healing. Not perfect healing, because with an injury like that, perfect wasn’t really on the table. But enough to give us hope.
And wouldn’t you know it? He flew. Not an awkward flutter, either. Actual, controlled, beautifully quiet barred owl flight.
Hootie has passed his flight assessments, and we’re hoping he can return to the wild while barred owls are calling to one another this fall.
Sometimes the most incredible animals aren’t the rare ones. Sometimes they’re the ordinary ones who surprise the heck out of you.
Thank you to Dr. M for his initial diagnosis and dedicated care, Dr. C for his continued evaluations and outdoor assessments, our raptor expert for her guidance and support, and AAA Exterminating for helping build the flight cage this year.
I was a little frustrated yesterday, as I was going to share a post I found touching, but right before hitting post, I decided against it because I didn’t want it to turn into “a thing.”
It was the day after the Oregon elementary school shooting and the person stopped to help the owl and they called the rescue in tears because they were so in need of being able to help something when they felt so powerless they couldn’t do anything to undue the recent tragedy.
I didn’t view it as a political thing, but some of the anti-American sentiment irks me here (I got some personally on one of the bread communities of all places the other day…) so I didn’t want to risk dragging any of that in here.
We get a decent number of people in tears on the phone or in person at the clinic and everyone has a moment that touches them or triggers them in ways they don’t expect, and it’s always interesting to learn the stories behind some of those moments. All of us living creatures are expected to endure a lot, and it’s amazing so many of us keep carrying on despite our issues.
But I’m glad there are animal rescues and so many people that care about every animal and every person. There is still a lot of good out there and so many loving and caring people. Sometimes it’s hard to notice them, because they just “keep on keeping on” in the background unless we stop to notice them. And I’m just glad I get to share some of those moments with you guys, because every now and then we all need a reminder of that.