Washington police rescue injured owl

WASHINGTON — Local law enforcement and conservation officials picked up an injured owl last week when Washington Patrol Officer Seth Adam spotted the animal on Highway 1.

“He had obviously been sitting there for a while because he had frost on his head, so me and deputy (Lucas) Snedigar just picked him up,” Adam said. “We’ve had success in the past with some rehabilitation of injured owls with the county conservation board, so we contacted Director Rozmus and he set up to pick him up.”

In the meantime, the bird spent around six hours at the 911 call center.

“The girls out there took good care of him, they wrapped him up in a blanket and he pretty much sat there the whole time,” Adam said. “We were able to pet him and everything, it was a neat experience because we could pet him, and he just was completely fine with it … he appeared still in pretty good health.”

Washington County Conservation Director Zach Rozmus said the bird had likely been clipped by a passing car.

“It had some visible injuries, was pretty lethargic, it looked like it had been there for a little while,” he said. “Unfortunately we do often get a lot of calls like this. And in these circumstances, specifically with raptors, whether it be hawks, falcons, or owls, a lot of times we get the RARE Group involved.”

The RARE (Raptor Advocacy Rehabilitation and Education) is a volunteer organization in Johnson County. Often, the birds can return to the wild although Rozmus said recovery was not guaranteed.

“Unfortunately, there’s just not enough people hours to rehabilitate every single animal, and there are injuries an animal could sustain that wouldn’t allow it to be successful in the wild again,” he said. “That’s not always the best end of the story, but a lot of the times that is the outcome, unfortunately.”

Rozmus said he got the call around 3 a.m., but didn’t complain.

“It is part of my job that I really do enjoy, having hands on with wildlife, being able to do those reintroduction stories,” he said. “Even in the last several months, we actually had another barred owl … and we were able to reintroduce it right where it was found alongside the road. Those are the good stories and that’s always the outcome we want to push for.”

Comments: Kalen.McCain@southeastiowaunion.com