You'd be embarrassed too...

Owls caught in sewage treatment plant geta second chance

Top: Our unfortunate barred owlsare carefully cleaned following their close encounter with a sewagedigester in the city of Athens, Illinois. Above left: JacquesNuzzo (center) and Phil Quintenz (right) ready one of the owlsfor release. Above right: It is a happy ending as the owlsare released by Nuzzo.

 

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Thanks to caring and quick thinking employees, two barred owls trapped in the "digester" at the sewage plant in Athens have a second chance at life. The wet, cold and not-exactly-sweet-smelling owls were quickly transported to the Illinois Raptor Center. Unfortunately, the task we were about to undertake wasn't just the matter of giving a bird a bath. Having taken a workshop on rehabilitating birds caught in oil spills, we knew there were proper steps to be taken. We also knew that if not properly cared for, the owls may not survive. You see, each feather is made up of over 1 million parts, and each bird has many different kinds of feathers covering its body. Feathers must fit together perfectly not only for flight, but for control of body temperature, breeding, camouflage, parasite control, and many others functions. Owls also have a special facial disk of feathers that help funnel sound to the ears. If these feathers are dirty or damaged, the bird's hearing is

impaired. Owls especially rely on their hearing to locate prey, so finding food would be difficult. We set out to do the best job we could to get the birds back to perfect feather condition. It took several cleaning sessions, many days inside our warm incubators and a couple of weeks in an outdoor flight cage exposed to natural sun and rain. Finally we knew they were ready to return to Athens. Jacques Nuzzo and volunteer Phil Quintenz returned the birds to their natural territories to the delight of the city's mayor and employees. Everyone watched as the owls flew across the plant's driveway into the trees. The employee who found the birds said he had seen barred owls in the area, but never dreamed they might be caught up in the plant's machinery. He gets the "Gold Star" from the IRC for changing his daily routine. He is going to check the machinery early in the morning, instead of late afternoon from now on. This small change could save a life.

Following the release, we received a nice thank you letter and the two photos of the release from Debra J. Richardson, the mayor of Athens.