A great horned owl is living free back in the wild, after a wild trip stuck in the grille of a truck.
As the owl was flying across a road in northern Florida a few weeks ago, he was hit by a pick-up truck. The animal broke through the grille portion and spent the 300 mile journey inside the vehicle.
The driver didn’t notice the added passenger until about ten hours later when he arrived in Naples. The owl was still alive.
The driver called the Conservancy of Southwest Florida for help. The wildlife conservancy posted on Facebook they found the owl “dull” and it had some swelling and cuts from the impact with the truck.
Miraculously, the bird had no broken bones from the ordeal.
“He was given some fluids, pain medications and laser therapy and placed in a cage to recover,” the conservancy wrote, adding “staff is optimistic about his recovery.”
After about a week of treatment, the owl was able to be in an outside enclosure.
Then, on April 30, the owl was safely released back into the wild. Since the animal’s original home was unknown, the Conservancy of Southwest Florida identified a safe location for the owl’s release that “had a lot of wild space to ensure the owl would not encroach on another owl’s territory.”
