MIRACLE ESCAPE FOR BABY OWLS
THREE baby grass owls had a lucky escape after they were rescued from a harvester during a sugar cane burn early last week.
The three owls, only three or four weeks old, were brought to Currumbin Wildlife Hospital after being sucked into the machine.
Senior Vet Dr Michael Pyne said staff could hardly believe what had happened to the lucky three, who arrived mostly uninjured.
“I’ve never seen something like this happen. We have baby birds brought in all the time but I’ve never had birds be picked up by a harvester,” he said.
“I couldn’t believe the story but we’ve checked it and rechecked it to make sure it’s genuine.”
The birds will stay at the hospital’s rehab unit for at least a month, until they are old enough to be released into the wild together.
In the meantime, staff are going to extremes to keep them from becoming attached to humans.
“Any time anyone is going near them for any reason, we actually cover ourselves up in sheets so we don’t look like a person,” Dr Pyne said.