Tamarack Wildlife Rehabilitation & Education Center

Rescue Results in Reuniting

I am a believer that there is a reason for things happening as they do. There is more than coincidence. This event which unfolded during a rescue in Hermitage was something that was meant to be.

I had just gotten home from work, and was listening to the messages on the answering machine. The most urgent one, was an owl stuck in
a chimney in Hermitage. The person calling,was a teacher from Ohio, who had gotten the name and number of our center from an Ohio Wildlife
Rehabilitator.

As far as she knew, this owl had been in her father's chimney for several days.

I knew that this animal was in trouble, not only because it was stranded in the chimney, but for who knows how many days.

I made a call to our transporter from that area, who was not available. Since he was one of the few people who volunteer for us that knew
how to properly handle birds of prey, I knew I had no other option than to go myself. I fed and tended to the animals at the center and left.

The rescue posed a bit of a challenge. All owls I've removed from chimneys have been screech owls. So, I took a box big enough for a 6"
- 7" bird. Since I had just emptied my truck, due to another event, I was not fully equipped as usual.

I was not able to see the bird, so I reached up to grab the bird of prey. I realized I was grabbing a bigger bird than a screech owl when the
bird grabbed me. Ouch!!

Determined to retrieve the owl as quickly as possible, to reduce any more unnecessary stress, I did not let go. However, I needed both
hands. So, one of the homeowner's daughters assisted by holding a flashlight.

In the meantime, unbeknownst to me, the entire rescue was being video taped.

As the owl was being pulled through the opening, creosote had covered my head, upper body and had gotten in my eyes, from behind my
glasses, and was stinging.

Finally, the owl was pulled out, briefly looked at and determined it needed to be taken back to the center, and stuffed into an undersized box.

On examination the barred owl could not open her eyes very well due to the buildup of creosote on the eyelids. The eyes were flushed with sterile water and a salve put in each eye to help melt the creosote and stop infection.

Ten days later the owl was ready to be returned to the area. Arrangements were made to have the homeowner and his family there for the
release.

The barred owl flew out of the box and into a tree without any problem. She looked back at us, then flew into a clump of trees.

The family invited me in to see the video of the rescue. After we watched the video, they gave me a copy to take home. As I was finishing a glass of water, we began to have a conversation about how the video was being passed around to be viewed by the schools that both daughters
worked at.

As the conversation continued, the question was asked where the daughters had gotten their education. The one daughter said she had
graduated from Edinboro University in Speech and Hearing a year before I graduated.

I mentioned that I had lived off campus with several students that were Speech and Hearing majors. I began mentioning names and she knew
them and had roomed with them. I thought, isn't that funny, I roomed with them also.

The mystery was solved when she said there was a girl from Meadville that roomed with them but had lost touch with her. (She did not know my name when I brought the owl back for release, she just knew a person from Tamarack Wildlife was coming. Also I didn't know her name.) She said her roommate's name was Sue. Then I said,"My name is Sue and I think I was your roommate." She said, "I am Natalie."

We jumped up and hugged each other. Then we began making phone calls to one of the other roommates who lived close by. Paula came over and we talked for several hours trying to catch up on the years we had lost.

We have been keeping in touch since.

As I was driving home, I smiled and had such a good feeling that we had been reunited after so many years.