After a hike, Nikki Robinson was packing up close to go home when she spotted a cat crossing the road. The cat wandered towards a residential district, so she followed him, ensuring he didn’t get hit by any cars.
Robinson, who is studying to be a wildlife rehabilitator, knows when an animal is in need — and it with great care happened she was at the proper place at just the proper time to save lots of a touched life.
While following the cat, another noise caught her attention. “I heard what I assumed was an injured squirrel,” Robinson told The Dodo. “[I] followed the sound and located a fluffball within the wildflowers.**
A tiny eastern screech owlet had fallen from his nest, and she or he knew he was too young to fly. “He was still on the brink of the roadside,” Robinson said. “I looked around for a nest or tree hole, but couldn’t see anything. He was quivering tons, and that I was worried about a few head injuries.”
Robinson called a couple of wildlife rehabbers she’d worked with, and that they all agreed the small guy needed to be verified. So Robinson found a box with towels in her car and wrapped the owlet up. She turned on the seat warmer and placed the box on top, hoping to prevent him from shivering.
But her decision to limit contact with the wild baby during the drive didn’t quite compute. it had been clear the owlet wanted attention — and was very insistent about it.
“He kept trying to climb out of the closed box,” Robinson said. “When I checked on him, he would jump onto me and sit happily on the safety belt or my shoulder.”
“I’m sure he was just cold, but he did stop shivering when he snuggled into my cheek,” she added.
Robinson dropped the baby owl off at a rehab facility, and after an evening in an incubator, his health improved.
Now, because of his rescuer, the owlet is getting the care he must at some point be released back to the wild
