For employees of the Pennsylvania Game Commission, rescuing wild animals is part of their day-to-day work.
So when a sergeant from this organisation is alerted to an emergency, he doesn’t hesitate for a second.
He sets off at lightning speed to the lake where an animal is fighting for its life in the water.
Rescued from the water
He has no trouble spotting the animal in distress. It is a large bird fighting against drowning near the shore.
The sergeant helps immediately and brings the poor bird safely to the shore. Now he realises that the animal is injured.
He sends a photo to the Raven Ridge Wildlife Centre. The bird is a Virginia eagle owl and the sergeant is told to bring it over immediately.
Broken wings
The poor eagle owl has broken both wings.
The staff at the Raven Ridge Wildlife Centre suspect that it flew into the concrete enclosure of the lake and then crashed down injured.
Now the eagle owl is soaked with muddy water and completely exhausted.
Fortunately, he is in exactly the right place, because the rehabilitation of wild birds is the speciality of the Raven Ridge Wildlife Centre.
Stay away from me, you humans
The eagle owl is not showing gratitude to its rescuers.
On the contrary, it makes it quite clear that you should not approach it. It’s a good sign.
Excessive trusting behaviour is more of a problem for wild birds than for all wild animals. After all, they have to cope on their own in the wild.
Return to freedom
Now that the necessary medical treatment has been completed, the eagle owl no longer has to deal too much with pesky two-legged friends.
Rehabilitator Tracie Young watches with great enthusiasm as her protégé makes determined progress on the road to recovery.
He is soon able to eat on his own and his ability to fly is also quickly restored.
The return to freedom is already imminent.
In an environment of open fields and trees, the Virginia eagle owl spreads its wings and flies off to resume its old life.
Source: The Dodo
