A Call for Help

"Hi. I've been calling for hours trying to find help me. My son works for the Clay county landfill and there are some birds covered in oil. Can you help us?" Despite it being outside our area, ARC Wild quickly jumped into action. We coordinated with the county game wardens and Kansas State University to get help on site quickly.  It was discovered that the great horned owl (mother) had laid her eggs inside a spilled 50-gallon drum of engine oil that had been illegally dumped at the landfill.

The local game warden arrived just before dark and was only able to capture one chick. He drove it to Kansas State University where a veterinary team was waiting. They began the difficult process of removing as much oil as possible and warming the terrified bird. (It was important to be quiet and gentle as the bird could easily have died from the stress.) The bird was starving and as you can see - very stressed. 

The game warden returned to the landfill the next morning and was able to capture a second owlet. Sadly, the parents were never recovered and most likely perished. It took many baths to clean the oil off the birds. After each bath, they were warmed in an incubator. It was impossible to remove all the oil. Once dry, it was discovered that the owlets were in very poor condition after ingesting so much oil and it was obvious they were starving. It was unknown if we had reached them in time or if they would ever be able to fly. ARC Wild took the owlets back to Sabetha where they began fluid therapy. The smell of oil was overwhelming.