'Dazed' baby owl rescued from main road in Offaly
A baby owl was rescued after falling from a nest onto a main road in Co Offaly.
The owl chick was discovered on a main road in Daingean by a concerned member of the public, who contacted the ISPCA.
It is believed the chick fell from a nest in the overhanging trees above the road.
"I discovered the baby owl, less than a month old and it appeared to have fallen from a nest in the tall overhanging trees above," said ISPCA Inspector Deirdre Scally, who responded to the call.
"After observing the area, there was no sign of the chick's parents and the road was too unsafe to monitor further from a distance.
Although a little dazed, there was no obvious sign of injury, so I transported the chick to the nearby Kildare Animal Foundation’s Wildlife Unit for further assessment and rehabilitation.
Owl chicks leave their nests when they are around one month old and female long-eared owls can lay from three to eight eggs at a time.
The female owl mate will come to her side often during the 25-day incubation period, bringing food for her to survive on until she can go hunt on her own again.
The ISPCA has thanked the person who alerted them to the distressed chick.
"Huge thanks to the kind-hearted member of the public for making the call. This chick was too young to leave the nest and would not have survived on its own, especially on a main road," said Inspector Scally, who confirmed the chick will be re-released into the wild "where it belongs" when it is a little older.
The ISPCA has urged anyone who finds an owl chick to contact them for advice.
