Here’s a really great story my Dad sent to me the other day. He has a history of rescuing animals, and I love how he goes further than most would to make sure the animal gets help! He’s awesome.
I was driving along Village Drive, the road by a graduate-student community, Corry Village, about 6:30 PM, when I saw a flapping in the middle of the road. I passed it before I realized what it might be. I drove back and approached it again. It was an owl, disabled on the double yellow line, flapping its wings but not able to fly. I’ve looked online to find one that resembled it and the closest I found was the great horned owl. I’m not sure if that’s the ID but its appearance was fairly close:
Two students were on the sidewalk on one side of the road and one on the other, all looking at the owl but not making any move toward it. I assume they were anxious about getting bitten or clawed by a dying and diseased animal. Since it was in the middle of the road, it seemed more likely that a car had struck it or run over it but that it was otherwise healthy. I stopped my car and blocked my lane of traffic as I took it by its outermost wing-feathers and lifted it onto the grass at the roadside. I figured that, if I put a bit of tension on its wings that way, it wouldn’t be able to reach me with any of its sharp edges, such as beak or talons. It struggled to break free. Once on the ground, it was trying to crawl but it was dragging its legs, which seemed disabled, possibly fractured. I drove on to clear the traffic and came back a few minutes later. None of the students were there any more, probably because no solution occurred to them. I lifted the owl further away from the road near some overgrowth in the hope of giving it a temporary safe haven. When I lifted it that time, it didn’t struggle as much as before. I couldn’t tell whether it had begun to trust me or whether it was sinking into shock from blood-loss. It turned its neck and looked me fully in the face and didn’t attempt any retaliation or defense. It seemed quite alert. I called the UF veterinary hospital to enquire whether it would take such a patient. It has a wildlife department and it would take it. I got directions, put it in a large box and went to the vicinity. I never learned where it is exactly. I phoned again after I’d asked directions from emergency department people at Shands Hospital (for humans). They said the veterinary hospital was right behind me, turn right at the next light. I couldn’t find it. No sign identified it. Finally, I described where I was by phone and a veterinary resident drove to find me. Then, my car wouldn’t start again, so I asked her to get the owl to the hospital first, then to come back to give me a jump. In the meantime, I flagged down another driver and got a jump.
This story made my day. Your dad truly is a hero!!
Wonderful. He IS a hero!