Who, who, who will help me fly again?
KNYSNA – Shoppers strolling strollin about Knysna Mall Mal last Wednesday, 17 August, A would have hav to be forgiven for doing a doubletake ta and saying their names after being repeatedly asked "who?" by an unseen inquisitor. in It was only later la revealed that the "queries'' "que were in fact emanating emanatin from an owl flying about abou the mall. The beautiful African Afric wood owl had somehow got stuck s indoors and was fluttering flutter about until it was eventually eventual rescued, nursed back to t peak fitness by members of o Raptor Rescue and released rele in Pledge Nature Natur Reserve on Sunday Sun 21 August. The Th team from Raptor Rap Rescue believe that the owl, thought to be about three thre or four years old, entered the mall looking for lunch. "It was before be the really bad storm weather weathe rolled in, so he wouldn't have been be hiding, but instead probably chased a rat into the mall," said Laura Fotheringham, Fotheri Raptor Rescue co-owner. Fotheringham said they received a few calls that morning alerting them to the stranded owl, so they immediately sprang into action for what looked set to be a challenging rescue effort. "The owl had flown quite high up into the rafters of the mall," she said. "Usually this makes matters difficult as the owl can become stressed and agitated during rescue efforts. But, thankfully Mark [Robson] managed to catch it on the first attempt with the net, which made the process much easier."
Fotheringham thanked and commended the Knysna Mall management for helping with the rescue.
"They provided us with a tall enough ladder to reach the owl and turned off the escalator, all of which helped so much," she said.
Chairman of the Lakes Bird Club, Pat Nurse, was quite surprised that the owl had found its way to the mall as they are not common in town or built-up areas.
"We really don't know where it could have come from, because wood owls are found in the forest, unlike more urban owls," she said. "I've seen them most in Lake Brenton, but definitely not town."
Wood owls' natural love for forests is what led to the choice of Pledge Nature Reserve as the release location, as it was reforested and grew back well after the 2017 Knysna Fires. "Because it's not too far from the mall and it's the right environment, we thought the owl might like it there, so we suggested they release it in Pledge," Nurse explained.
And so, on Sunday, once the worst of the weekend's stormy weather had abated, people involved in the rescue gathered in Pledge to see the owl off. After a few moments to gather its thoughts the owl took wing quickly, happy to be free again.