Barred Owl Nearly Killed By Entanglement

The following story about a barred owl was submitted by All Things Wild Rehabilitation in Texas.

The rescuer tells how a barred owl was saved and brought to All Things Wild Rehabilitation.

New experience for me today. About 20–30 minutes after launching my kayak, I saw a brown object move in a weird way. I paddled over and saw an owl stuck in fishing line hanging mostly in the water. As I approached the bird she moved again, raising her head above the water line to keep from drowning. I knew she was alive. I was cautious about handling an owl as they have razor sharp claws and beaks. I cut her free and removed the fishing line around her wing. She didn’t fight me at all while I was helping her. If you know anything about raptors, that is a bad sign. I got her on my kayak and made a call to an ex-game-warden friend who helped me figure out what was next.

The owl was very cold and probably didn’t have much longer to live if we didn’t come across her. Our best guess is she was flying around sometime at night and got tangled up. It is pretty lucky the turtles didn’t get to her either.

After I took these pictures, I found a gravel bar and wrapped her up in a sweatshirt to help keep her warmed up. I called my wife to meet me at the takeout ramp with a carrier so the bird could be taken to a rescue center.

I paddled the rest of the way with a wrapped-up owl on the bow of my kayak and did my best to stay in the sun, not get water over the bow, or tip the boat and lose her. I decided to name her Oatie and checked on her frequently to make sure she was still alive. Once at the ramp, my wife picked her up, and she had a little more fight in her. She took her to All Things Wild Rehabilitation and, apparently, she was “feisty” getting out of the carrier. Hopefully, she makes a quick recovery and can be released.

All Things Wild Rehabilitation takes over the story. Oatie arrived in rehabilitation needing quality recuperation time. She had a dislocated toe, which was splinted, and was hand-fed EmerAid IC Carnivore and fluids every day until she regained her strength. After several days in the ICU at our center, we took Oatie to a large flight cage outside where she proved to us that she could fly well. She was lucky that the wing caught in the fishing line was not broken.

We splinted Oatie’s dislocated toe.

On a beautiful Friday afternoon, we met the rescuer at Little Webberville Park on the Colorado River and opened the carrier. Oatie didn’t need any urging to depart, seeming to know that she was back in her home territory. As she flew away, we wished her a good life free of fishing line.

Please ask the fishing people in your life to pick up excess fishing line.