Thankful Thursday
1) After several days of re-conditioning in a large flight pen, spouse took both owls previously discussed back to their point of origin and said Hasta la vista, babies! He was able to open the door of Owl One's carrier because she was the more mellow of the two. He didn't dare do that with Owl Two. She would have been instantly in his face. Both releases went well. Each immediately took to the air and seemed to have no trouble recognizing their home turf.
Both owls ready for transport Owl One
Owl One, high in a tree Owl Two, ready for lift-off
It's always such a relief when they depart. Not that they're bad company or anything, but hit-by-car cases can be so tricky. There are terrible days when it seems like everything that comes through the door is so badly injured, it needs to be euthanized. One rehabber, when I cried to her about that on the phone on a particularly dark day told me, "We all have our little pile of bones."
On the other hand, there are also those rare periods when every animal bounces back in almost miraculous fashion. Those are the days we live for. This was one of them.