Who? Who?

Christmas Day..... and this afternoon between dinner and dessert, my husband decided to take our dinner guest on a ride through our part of the hills here and show him some of the other properties.  I was thrilled for the little respite, which allowed me to clear away the dinner things and get dessert set up..... and after being sick with a bad cold/flu/whatever for a few days, the rest at that time of the afternoon was perfect.

Up and down the roads went my husband and his friend.... J lives in Clear Lake, and doesn't see livestock and wildlife on a regular basis, so he was enthralled by all the animals on the properties here.  On the way back to our own road, as my husband drove along the perimeter of a property that has lots of exotic deer and elk, they saw a huge owl impaled on a fence.  It's wings were straight out, as if it had been crucified right on top of the barbed wire fence.

My husband stopped the car and they both got out, and managed to get the owl off of the barbed wire. The poor bird was so exhausted that it didn't even resist them.  They figured that the owl must have been swooping down to catch a mouse or squirrel or something, and didn't realize the fence was there.  One of its wings was torn and bloody, making it impossible for the poor bird to fly.  They wrapped the owl up in an old towel that was in the trunk of the car, and brought it home. Even on Christmas Day, we have wildlife adventures here.

As soon as my husband walked into the door, I knew something was up...... he said "You might want to come out on the porch and take a look at this."   My guess was that they had found an abandoned dog or cat along the road.  That would have been easier to deal with than the injured owl....... the bird was all snuggled up in the towel, looking at the three of us through eyes that were half-open.  We have no idea how long that bird had been impaled on the top of that fence, but it was surely long enough to tire him out.

We put the bird into a box and he just stayed there all wrapped up in his towel till friend J was ready to leave for Clear Lake.  First thing in the morning, J will take the owl to the Nature Center and they'll be able to mend his wing, and hopefully he'll be flying again. One lucky owl...... it was just luck that my husband decided to take a drive after dinner...... that owl would still be on the fence, and easy prey for night-time coyotes.