We hit a big barred owl (white one) about 7 years ago on Alton Mountain - it swooped right down in front of the car and whacked right into the front grill. Although it was immobile, we threw it into the back of the station wagon (not knowing how foolish it was to pick up the owl, but we were trying to think quickly). At home, we carried him into the bathroom and locked him in while we tried to figure out what to do - his talon moved and grabbed my husband's jacket, so there were signs of life. We called around and found the wildlife rehab center in Madison who would take him. Interestingly, neither the police nor the sheriff had a list of rehab people or centers - it took some calling around to find the right person.
He was slowly waking up and we put him into a cat carrier, and was wide awake by the time we dropped him off.
The wildlife lady called us the next day to tell us that there was a dead mouse in the bottom of the cat carrier. Clearly it had swooped into the headlights to chase a mouse, and then it was squeezed in its talons the entire time it was unconscious.
We never did learn if it eventually recovered from its injuries enough to be released. I've since attended an owl workshop at the Loon Center to learn their calls - very interesting!
|