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Injured snowy owl being nursed back to health

06:49 PM PST on Friday, December 30, 2005
By GARY CHITTIM / KING 5 News


CARNATION, Wash. - A wildlife agent got a big surprise when he responded to
a call of an injured owl near Carnation. It wasn't just any owl, it was a
snowy owl which is rarely seen in this area.

But workers at a farm near Carnation say they've seen many of them lately
and this week they reported an injured one that appeared to have been shot.

"When I went to investigate, initially I thought the owl had been shot. He
had a very severe eye injury, couldn't fly," said Sgt. Kim Chandler,
Washington Fish and Wildlife.

Fish and Wildlife agent Chandler next used a salmon net to trap the injured
bird.

The big owl's eye injury was obvious and Chandler soon realized it had
another serious problem.

"The owl, in fact, was starving to death," said Chandler.

So he brought the bird to Skip Nelson and his crew at Kirkland's Exotic Pet
& Bird Clinic.

And now, the owl's eye is still in trouble, but the owl is no longer at risk
of starving to death.

"They fattened him up on mice and now he's up to rats," he said.

It turns out the owl wasn't shot, but an apparent injury to its eye led to
an infection that veterinary eye specialist Victoria Jones says can be
treated with drugs and maybe surgery.

She's very hopeful the owl will recover enough to be released to the wild.

But what many wonder what the owl is doing here.

The Snoqualmie Valley is a haven for birds and raptors like red tail hawks,
which are commonly seen snatching rodents from the fields.

Therefore, it wouldn't be surprising to see snowy owls in a setting like
this because they'd be attracted to the same food source, but these birds
are rarely known to go south of the Canadian border and suddenly we're
getting reports of them popping up everywhere - from farm fields to a bank
building in downtown Bellevue.

Experts don't know for sure why they're here, but say if you see one, enjoy
it, it may be a while before you see another.

Vets say the owl may be released even if the eye doesn't fully heal. They
say many birds of prey adapt to such an injury.


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Online at:
http://www.king5.com/animals/news/stories/NW_123005ENBsnowyowlKC.2cfe9c73.ht
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Connie Bickerton
Bainbridge Island Wa
mailto:connie.bickerton at mci.com