MIAMI (WSVN) - A pair of owls are back in the wild after they were rescued by good Samaritans who found them wounded and took them to a South Florida seabird station for some much-needed TLC.
It’s a moment the two feathered friends worked hard to achieve.
“We have a home that’s under the ground that’s safe and ready for these owls,” said good Samaritan Paul Kragh. “We’ll tuck them inside the burrow with a couple of mice.”
The burrowing owls are starting a new life together after they met up and healed up in Miami at Pelican Harbor Seabird Station.
“They’ve become good friends, and they’re always snuggling in their cage together,” said Jacquelyn, a wildlife rehabilitator at the station, “and so, they’re both ready for release, so we’re excited to release them today together.”
One of the birds was hit by a golf ball on a Hialeah course a few weeks ago.
The other was rescued with a broken foot from a storm shutter in Miami Gardens back in February.
God Samaritan Karen Franklin said she was startled when she first spotted the owl.
“All of a sudden, I look up, and I kind of got a little shock. I see an owl there,” she said. “It spooked me a little bit, I’m not going to lie. I saw his big eyes, and he starts kind of squawking at me.”
The treatments would make any harried human envious: acupuncture, laser therapy, and hot and cold baths to stimulate the nerves in the bird’s tiny foot.
The owl’s recovery is a full-circle moment for Kragh, a volunteer with the nonprofit Project Perch.
Safe in protective gloves, Kragh freed the owl from the shutter.
“He was able to kind of get the wings while the bird moved around a lot,” said Franklin.
A hundred days later, Kragh gets to help his feathered friend and a new buddy adjust to their new home sweet home.
“Once they’ve calmed, we’ll remove the towel, we’ll come back, and we’ll watch them for 30, 45 minutes and see what they do, and we’ll continue to follow up on them daily,” he said.
Pelican Harbor Seabird Station has cared for nearly 41,000 animals over the last 43 years.
Project Perch has a mission of protecting, nurturing and observing South Florida’s burrowing owls.
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