Owl's well that ends well

NORWALK — A crowd gathered at the Norwalk Reservoir on Friday evening to watch a small screech owl soar back into the sky. It was nearly two months after the injured bird was pulled from the road by an Ohio State Highway Patrol trooper. Trooper Jordan Cole, assigned to the Norwalk Post, remembered the moment clearly. "I was coming down Old State Road when I noticed a car slow down and swing wide around something," Cole said. "The light was just coming up. I looked closer and saw it was an owl. I picked her up and set her on the seat next to me." Cole radioed the incident, and fellow Trooper Steven Vanderford heard the call. He phoned his wife, Amanda, who works at the Ohio Bird Sanctuary. She met Cole at the post and took the owl directly to Mansfield for treatment. Treatment and recovery At Lilac Hill Veterinary Hospital in Mansfield, X-rays revealed the owl had suffered a fractured leg bone. Dr. Elizabeth Congdon performed the surgery. "We found a broken humerus," Congdon said. "I used a pin inside the bone, along with an external fixator on the outside, to keep it stable. After six weeks we removed the hardware, and the x-rays showed the leg had healed the way it should." Following surgery, the owl returned to the sanctuary. Staff gradually moved her from a small enclosure into larger spaces, eventually testing her strength in a flight cage. She showed she could perch, grip, and fly normally once again. She was ready for release, according to Amanda Vanderford. The bigger picture For Amanda Vanderford, who first took the owl in, the case was another reminder of the importance of rehabilitation. "Close to 90 percent of the wild animals we see are here because of people — car strikes, poisons, traps," she said. "Wildlife rehab isn't always about saving every single animal. It's about giving back when the harm was caused by us." Amanda Vanderford added that public releases often have a ripple effect. "Whether it's this screech owl or a bald eagle, releases help people connect with wildlife and think more carefully about the choices they make," she said. The Ohio Bird Sanctuary admits about 500 birds each year, with roughly 30 percent released. The rest either do not survive or, in rare cases, become long-term educational ambassadors. Back to the wild As the sun dropped lower over the reservoir, Cole carried the cage to the edge of the crowd. He unlatched the door and stepped back. The owl shot into the air, its wings catching the orange light of evening as onlookers cheered. "They kept me updated the whole time with x-rays and videos," Cole said. "Seeing her take off like that was something else. You don't realize how much even a small owl like that can be so appreciative." For the sanctuary, it was one of those rare victories — a story that began on the side of the road and ended in open sky.