Two Wellesley Police officers, working the midnight shift, answered the call overnight to rescue an owl caught up in some string from a lawn game.
The bird (we’re hazarding an educated guess this is a barred owl?) apparently wasn’t the wisest of owls.
Fortunately for the fowl, Field Training Officer (FTO) Mark Knapp and Officer Brian Collins, who Knapp has been showing the ropes,
According to Wellesley Police Department, “As an FTO on midnights your tasks are similar to your counterparts on the day and evening shift. However, after midnight an officer is often asked to resolve problems without many of the usual resources that are available during the day. As a midnight FTO a big part of your job is to pass down as much of this institutional knowledge as possible.”
The officers joined forces to extract one of the owl’s wings from string and a metal ring without further injuring the animal, which was transported to the Wellesley Animal Hospital for treatment.
It’s been a rough week for owls, which have been making headlines for getting into various fixes. A saw-whet owl was rescued from the big Christmas tree installed at Rockefeller Center in New York City.
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Yes its a Barred Owl. It probably couldn’t see the string when flying at night. Glad it was able to be rescued as they are such important birds of prey.