Last month, the Wildlife Services department at VINS approved one of its patients, a barred owl, for release back into the wild. The owl, pictured below during its release, was found by a member of the public in November. The bird came in suffering from head trauma and damage to one of its eyes. The owl was most likely struck by a car.
VINS Wildlife Services staff member Meghan Oliver releases a barred owl back into the wild.Watch a full video of the release here!
With the proper medical treatment and some “R & R” in our rehabilitation department, the owl returned to full health, proving both his flight skills and hunting ability in our flight cage. The flight cage is a large enclosure where we can place owls and other raptors to observe their flight and determine if they are ready to be returned to the wild. We “live prey test” our raptors, which involves placing rodents in the flight cage with a raptor to see if the bird can hunt. This particular barred owl successfully passed two live prey tests and was flying well, allowing us to release him out of rehab and back into his home in the wild.
Learn more about this owl’s plight and enjoy a full video of the barred owl’s release, by going here.
You gals are awesome!