Great Horned Owl Is Literally In A Bind

This story was shared with us by Oaken Acres Wildlife Center in Illinois.

It started with a Sunday morning call for help about an owl that was entangled in a barbed wire fence. It was in the city of Sheridan, over an hour away. We just don’t have the staff to send out on rescues, even locally, let alone a trip that would end up being three hours. Because the finders found no help in their county, we contacted Chicago Bird Collision Monitors (a group of dedicated wild bird rescuers) hoping they had a volunteer in the area. No luck.

Transporting The Owl To Oaken Acres

I asked myself one question: Will I be able to go to sleep tonight knowing that the owl was left there to die? Ha! I started gathering my supplies and really hoped someone would be there to help me. I had asked the homeowner to cut the wire on either side of the wing so the owl, now named Sheridan, could rest on the ground.

Just before I left, I got a text that a CBCM volunteer who lived nearby would rescue the owl. Yay! After Megan and her husband rescued the owl, I met them in Hinckley to bring her back to Oaken Acres where Sandy, one of our animal care directors, was waiting to assist.

Removing The Barbed Wire

We anesthetized Sheridan with our new portable anesthesia machine (thank you DeKalb County Community Foundation for helping fund this and to the staff of the Wildlife Repair Shop for teaching us how to use it!) and started performing our makeshift surgery.

It was our first solo experience with anesthesia, and we were pretty nervous. I monitored her breathing while Sandy got to work. Sheridan must have twisted herself over and over in the fence, because the wire was embedded in the skin and feathers around two separate barbs. The nubs on the barbs were removed with wire cutters, but it was still firmly entwined in the flesh. It took Sandy about 20 minutes with tweezers and tiny scissors to finally free the wire from her wing. Great job, Sandy!

The wound was thoroughly cleansed and bandaged with Tegaderm (thank you 3M for donating so many of our first-aid supplies!) over both sides of the wing where the most damage was. We proceeded to wake her up by weaning from isoflurane onto oxygen. She woke up fast and ornery!

Recovery And Release

Post surgery, we consulted with two wildlife veterinarians who help us from afar via email. They were cautiously optimistic that the hole left from removing the wire would heal over. They suggested EmerAid IC Carnivore (thanks to EmerAid for the deep discount it gives wildlife rehabilitators) for the first few feedings and a colloidal patch to cover the wound .

And heal it did after a few weeks. We were thrilled! It took another month of flight conditioning in our eagle cage, and we were ready to take her home. We made the trip to the field where she was found.

It’s always stressful when they’ve been so badly injured. You know they’re doing well in a cage and flying great, but will they take off like you’re hoping when you let them go and there are no walls to keep them in if something goes wrong? It was a perfect flight right out of Sandy’s hands and into a tree that was quite a ways away.

Beautiful day. Beautiful bird. Beautiful release.

Look how many were involved in just this one patient. It takes a community of caring individuals to make our work possible.