BRUNSWICK, Maine — An injured barred owl is safe at a wild bird rehabilitation center Monday afternoon after Brunswick police officers retrieved it from the side of Route 24 early Monday morning.
Police and animal control officer Heidi Nelson located the owl near Coombs Road off Route 24, also known as Gurnet Road, at about 7:30 a.m. Monday after a caller reported seeing an injured owl, Nelson said.
“One of the officers held my crate open and I put on my gloves and very gently picked it up,” Nelson said. “I felt its wings, checked its neck and it seemed OK, like it probably had a concussion. I put it in the carrier, came back [to the station] and called the [Maine] Warden Service.”
A volunteer for Avian Haven Wild Bird Rehabilitation Center delivered the animal to the Freedom facility. Staff confirmed that the bird arrived just before 1 p.m., although they hadn’t yet had a chance to examine it.
Nelson said she hopes that, if the owl can eventually be released back into the wild, she’ll be able to help, as she did with a snowy owl several years ago.
“They try to release them into the same area where they were picked up so they stay in their natural habitat,” she said. “I’m hopeful they’ll call me.”