(Photos by D. Pohl and J. Williams)
It was a real shock to the system Monday night when Ocala firefighters at Station 2 spotted a young owl stuck inside the Ocala Electric Utility transformer yard next door.
The feathered intruder had somehow found its way past the fencing but couldn’t find a way back out—and with power infrastructure nearby, it wasn’t exactly a wise place for a rookie flyer to roost.
Thankfully, the rescue sparked no outages. Crews called in the experts from Rescuing Ocala Wildlife (ROW), who teamed up with OEU staff to access the substation and coax the confused juvenile out safely.
After a quick check-up, ROW determined the owl wasn’t injured—just a little too young to master the art of takeoff. The fluffball was released into nearby woods, where its owl parents had been spotted standing by.
Crisis averted. Power steady. Owl safe.
For more info on ROW and their wildlife rescues, flap on over to www.rowildlife.org.
