Tale of Tails

Smoked Owl?
Andi Gossett

Smoked ribs. Smoked pork. Smoked ham. Smoked….screech owl? Probably not what the tiny owl had in mind when he decided to make Rob Carter's smoker his new home. Fortunately for this screech owl, Rob rescued him before he could be served for dinner with a side of potatoes.

WildCare's twenty-third injured animal of the year, a red phase screech owl trapped in a smoker for three days, was brought in on January 12. No bigger than an adult human's hand, this little "Hooter" was covered in oil and exceptionally thin. According to Rob Carter, a professional firefighter in Warr Acres, the little one flew down the chimney of the smoker into the firebox, where the cramped, small space prevented him from spreading his wings.

When Rob opened the door to his smoker and found the owl, he released him immediately. However, the oil-covered ball of matted feathers didn't fly away. Rob watched as first woodpeckers, then jays, and finally crows swooped down at the tiny owl, teasing and taunting him. Rob couldn't let the scene continue. He took the forlorn owl into his home and called his vet, who recommended WildCare.

"It would have been easier to walk away, but I just didn't have the heart to," Rob said. "He would have been crow food for sure."

Since arriving at WildCare, he has received steroids, heat, food, and two sets of luxurious bubble baths, courtesy of Dawn dish soap, which is often used for clean up in oil spills. As soon as his oil glands begin making their own oil again, the owl will preen his natural oils back into his feathers. Once his feathers have become waterproof, he will be released back on Rob Carter's property, where Rob said he has lived since around 1997.

The Director of WildCare says that situations like these happen from time to time with wildlife leaving near people, but fortunately for the little screech owl he was found. Also, fortunately for the owl he was found by caring people like Rob Cater and his family who brought the dripping owl to WildCare. Although the owl might have felt he was getting helped when Rob saved him from the crows, I am sure the owl did not believe that he was getting help when he was getting bathed or dried with a hair dryer, known in our profession as a feather dryer.