I was walking my dog today when I saw about 20 giant ravens in the empty, snowy road ahead. Barely 3 cars a day go up this road so it seemed odd that it could be roadkill. I feet like I saw what their messing with move, so I step up my pace a bit, loosing my dog in the process but she stays near. All the ravens clear off as I get closer and as I approached what was on the ground I noticed that it was a small owl. I was surprised to say the least but, you probably wouldn’t know it. I carefully scooped him up against my chest. He clicked at me and gripped my finger with his talons. He was absolutely sure I was also out to kill him. He had a little blood on his forehead but otherwise seemed unharmed but I hurried him home, after readjusting him to a gloved hand, so I could check him out and see if he needed to go to a raptor center.
I spoke to him softly and pet his head over the course of the walk, calming him down to where he stopped clicking and struggling. I showed my boyfriend and took him into a dark room to see if he could still fly or showed any injuries. He flew around the room once, I grabbed my camera and found a high place to get a shot. He flew around the room again and landed on my head. After that, he flew across the room to a lamp where he let me walk up to him and pet his chest. This made for a couple pretty cute videos. We became friends.
A video posted by Nerds on the Road (@nerdsontheroad) on
I called a raptor place in Denver to explain the situation, and texted a lady some photos. She called me back and told me he was a Boreal Owl, a rare sight indeed, and that if his wing and tail feathers seemed ok that I could let him go and see what happens. His pupils were the same size, he seemed alert and could fly, so although he was a bit beat up, he would recover. I took a few more photos and we let him go from the front porch where he flew into some trees on the hill below the house.
I miss him.
