Police officer rescues adorable injured owl, makes sure she's safely belted in for ride to vet

OKLAHOMA -- Norman Police Sgt. Darin Morgan was terrified to take a subject into custody, but he did what he had to do. The subject had a beak, wings, feathers and long talons, and it was hurt badly.

It had been a typical day for Morgan, who has been with the Norman Police Department for 17 years. He was siting in his patrol car near mile marker 77 in Garvin County when he saw something small sitting on the shoulder of the road.

Isn't that the cutest thing?!

 

 “I looked, and it looked like an owl,” Morgan said. "I had never seen one before up close — especially during the day.”

Morgan pulled over, got out of his vehicle and inspected the animal. He was right: it was a Great Horned Owl. 

“It was just kind of sitting there straight up with its eyes closed. I could see that its wings were injured. I was afraid it was dead, but then it moved.”

Morgan said he had to do something, but he wasn’t sure what that was. He snapped a few photos of the tawny owl and posted them on his Facebook account, asking for suggestions from his friends.

Within seconds, they responded with phone calls and text messages, all telling him what he could do to safely rescue the injured animal. Morgan reached out to the local Game Warden, who also advised him what steps to take.

It was then that Morgan received a phone from Norman Realtor Jenna Laird. She was working and volunteered to take the owl the rest of the way to WildCare, an animal facility in Noble. She told him to swaddle the owl and but in a box. Morgan didn’t have a box, so he improvised.

 

“I put him in my backpack,” Morgan said. "Then of course I didn’t want him sliding around in the seat, so that’s how I ended up seat belting him in.”

It was quite the chore, and Morgan said the owl was not happy with him.

“It was amazing how strong it was, and I’m trying not to hurt him because his wing was already hurt,” Morgan said. "I didn’t want to hurt him any more, and I was terrified of his talons and its beak."

 

 

With its head peeking out out over the backpack, the owl sat there with its eyes closed in silence for the whole trip. Right as Morgan stopped to meet laird to hand him off to Laird, the owl opened its eyes, gave him a look and started to wriggle away. But Morgan was able to make the exchange unscathed.

“It was a nice team effort,” Morgan said. “I was relieved the owl didn’t get me. It was a little stressful taking care of it, not knowing what I was doing with it hurt.”

UPDATE: According to WildCare Oklahoma's Facebook page:

"The Great-horned owl who was rescued by Sgt. Morgan of the Norman Police Department made it through surgery last night to pin the broken wing. The surgery was done here at WildCare by Dr. Amy Tyler, assisted by WildCare's wildlife care manager, Karyn Lesinski."
(Norman Transcript - Nov 6, 2015)