Arizona Humane Society Rescues Baby Owl

PHOENIX, AZ — Arizona Human Society rescuers on Thursday rescued a baby owl who couldn't make it back to its nest in the rafters of the society's arena.

It seems as though the owlet — now named Chevy — fell while trying to practice its flying technique, according to a news release from the humane society.

Typically the humane society advises the public against taking in young animals they come across — even kittens — because the animals' parents will likely return. But in this case they feared for the owlet's safety, so humane society staff called Wild at Heart Raptor rescue for advice and decided to take in the owl because of the large coyote population in the area.

"Even though Mom and Dad are upset, if we left him down on the ground, he wouldn't survive the day," Andy Gallo, an emergency animal medical technician for AHS, said in a video released by the humane society.

The humane society arena is located near the Nina Mason Pulliam South Mountain Campus and has been a regular nesting spot for owls during breeding season each spring. Increased construction in the area has encouraged a rise in the local coyote population, making it dangerous for the owlet to stay on the ground, according to the humane society.

The humane society took the owlet to Wild at Heart, which will set him up with an owl foster family to show him the ropes of being an owl.

Cynthia McGuire, another emergency animal medical technician for AHS, said that transporting the owl to Wild at Heart and knowing that he will go into an owl foster family was the best feeling, aside from getting to hold him.

Wild at Heart expects that Chevy will soon be flying, and can then be released, the humane society said in the news release.