I often say interaction with Cars, Cats and Windows are the top three reasons wildlife are admitted. This past week, Chimneys without spark arrestors or caps featured prominently. 

But first, some updates….

The American Kestrels admitted May 30th have grown a lot and are eating off a plate. The photo below was taken on June 2nd.

Six days later they look like this… They are saying “Feed Me!!!”

The Great Horned Owls who fledged at the hack site are exploring…

And have adult supervision by an owl who nested nearby…

Tricia and intern Thomas released the Chukar who was admitted with multiple injuries from being mauled by a cat.

Then Tricia traveled to La Grande to return a fledgling American Crow to its family and release a Bald Eagle at Ladd Marsh. The eagle had been found near Wallowa in April with multiple bruises and unable to fly. She wasted no time in flying out across the marsh.

Five Barn Owls were removed from a fireplace south of Pendleton and placed in a box in a nearby tree where they could safely fledge. The owlets were being well cared for by their parents who could enter and exit the chimney. Unfortunately, the young owls didn’t have the necessary skills to exit the nest.

The chimney was not immediately capped and 3 more owlets were removed from the fire place the next night and brought to BMW. After a checkup, fluids and some dinner, they were returned to the cemetery and placed in the box which was empty as the previous owls had fledged.

On Saturday, Thomas and I responded to a call about more Barn Owls in a chimney on a farm east of Pendleton. This situation was a little trickier. There was a dog-leg in the chimney. Five  owlets were about two-thirds of the way down the chimney on a ledge. We could see the center of the ledge from the top of the chimney, but the owlets could move to either side out of view. After nearly two hours effort we were able to get one owlet out of the chimney when it grabbed the net Thomas had lowered into the chimney on a long pole. 

We took a break to regroup and rehydrate and returned to the farm a few hours later. By this time The Chimney Guy had arrived to clean the chimney. He pulled the wood stove out of the fireplace. It took another two hours, but with his help, we were able to get the other four owls out of the chimney. Thomas snagged one from the top. The Chimney Guy used his amazingly powerful shop vacuum to dislodge creosote and eventually three more owlets were removed from the chimney. Unfortunately, one of the owlets was dead. The owls will be hacked at BMW bringing the total to 63 Barn Owls. Donations for mice are appreciated.

The house had been occupied for 41 years and the chimney had never been cleaned. It was a miracle that the house had not burned down. If you use a fireplace, have it and the chimney cleaned once a year. Also, please place a spark arrestor or cap on the chimney. It will prevent animals, debris or rain from entering the chimney and sparks from exiting the chimney and starting a fire.