Kip’s Comments - June 2, 2023

Great Guys and Gals

Early this morning I received a call from the sister of a fellow who had been walking in Janesville. Maury spotted an owl hanging by fishing line suspended from a tree branch over the Cedar River. Maury’s sister called me to ask if I might be able to help free the owl. Of course I agreed, without realizing how challenging the owl’s predicament was.

Once in Janesville the situation for the owl became clear. Without some sort of intervention at a quick pace, this owl was doomed to suffer a long, slow death.

Injured Barred Owl - Image 819157

Recognizing I was prepared to free a fishing line entwined owl on the ground, but not in a tree hanging over the river, I knew I needed resources. I made a couple of phone calls and a plan was drafted.

Injured Barred Owl - Image 819286

My first phone call was to a Janesville firefighter who I thought might have tools capable of reaching the monofilament line above the owl. We tried, but there just was not enough reach to free the owl. And from what I could tell from the river bank, the fishing line was wrapped very tight around the wing of the bird. We needed to do something.

Injured Barred Owl - Image 819238

Dave and I agreed that maybe a boat with a ladder would give us the necessary height needed to free the owl. Again I made a call to a contact on the Waverly Fire Department. A few minutes later we received the news we needed… a couple of Waverly firefighters would bring their large, wide flatbottom boat to the scene. From there we would put up a ladder where we could hopefully clip the line.

Injured Barred Owl - Image 819349

The boat idea worked! We were able to position the boat under the owl, then reach the owl to put a net over it so it would not fall into the river and drown, then the line was clipped. Once free, we motored back to my Jeep where we did our best to free the owl from the fishing line and the net from the owl’s talons. Cutting the line was easy. The owl had other ideas for relaxing its talon. Trust me, I can tell you how much strength an owl has when it is under duress and squeezing those sharp claws that are grasping my thumb!

After securing the owl I then delivered it to Terese with Black Hawk Wildlife Rehabilitation. She and I evaluated the owl and found it to have plenty of sass - a good thing. Its mouth was dry - not so good. Terese will have veterinarians evaluate the owl sometime today or tomorrow. My personal opinion is that with some fluids and rest, this bird will be able to be released to fly wild again.

Injured Barred Owl - Image 819624

Those of us in Public Safety plan together, we train together, and we exercise together. Too often our focus is on a hazmat incident, a car accident, a fire… something tragic. So often we are seeing the worst - the things most people never see in their lives. Today we were able to work together to save an innocent owl - something that did not deserve to be caught, a living creature fully dependent on us to help it. It was challenging and I will say - it was fun - to work together on a sad project with what appears should be a happy ending!

I want to thank the people who helped give this owl its best chance at survival - Maury, Becky, Dave, Nate, Kevin, Terese, and the veterinary staff who will evaluate and treat the bird. From start to finish we had a great team to bring this unfortunate incident to a safe resolution. To each of you I say “Thank You” for your help!