Rare patient recovering at wildlife rescue centre

The Wild Animal Rehabilitation Centre in Metchosin, B.C., is nursing an unusual patient a female short-eared owl with two severely broken bones in her left wing.

The female adult owl was found by the side of the road near a housing development outside Victoria, in Colwood.

Heather Schmitt,assistant manager at Wild ARC, said it was likely hit by a car.

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Vehicle collisions not unusual

Such injuries increase at this time of year as daylight hoursgrow shorter, said Schmitt.

"People are heading to and from work at dawn and dusk, and this is exactly when these guys are hunting for food, often by roadsides."

While it's not unusual to receive calls about injured owls by the side of the road, Schmitt said they are usually the more common great horned owls or barred owls.

"When we got this gal in and we saw that she's a short-eared owl, it was a bit of a novel case for us."

South Vancouver Island is withinthe normal range for short-eared owls, but none have been brought into Wild ARC for many years, she said.

Two-month recoveryexpected

Local veterinary surgeon Dr. Petra Warnockquicklypinned and stabilizedthe injured owl's broken radius and ulna (the bones between the elbow and wrist on humans).

Schmitt said the owl's recovery is expected to take about two months.

She estimated the cost will be more than $4,000 for treatment and care, including medication to control pain and prevent infection, as well as hand-feeding and rehabilitation therapy.

In the rehabilitation centre,the owl is isolated fromother animals and people to reduce stress, Schmitt said.

"Of course, we can't explain that we're trying to help them," she said.

"So instead what we need to do is really minimize our contact and be very efficient with the care that we're giving her, so we're handling her as little aspossible."