Young Owl, Baby Rabbits Rescued by Conservation Officers

On April 19, ECO Nicholas Perkins responded to a nursing home in the town of Smithtown, in Suffolk County on Long Island, to investigate a report of an injured baby owl sitting on the ground.

Perkins arrived at the location and observed the great horned owl struggling to move and maintain its balance. The ECO contacted a local wildlife rehabilitator and secured the owl for transport as nightfall approached.

The rehabilitator assessed the bird’s condition upon arrival and determined the owl’s leg was swollen, most likely due to falling from a nest in a nearby pine tree. The animal was sent for x-rays and treatment and, once healthy, will be released back into the wild.

On April 29, ECO Jason Powers received a call from a concerned landowner in the town of Leon, Cattaraugus County, who claimed his dogs were sniffing around a nest with baby rabbits inside and no mother in sight. Powers responded to the location, located the nest, and discovered five baby rabbits with their eyes barely open.

The ECO carefully transported the rabbits to a volunteer with the Messinger Woods Wildlife Care and Education Center in Holland.

Center volunteer Annie Widger suggested a method concerned residents can utilize to determine whether a nest of baby rabbits is abandoned: place a laundry basket over the nest during the day to keep predators out.

At night, remove the basket and make an “X” with some string over the nest. If the string has not been disturbed the next morning, there is a good chance the mother is no longer able to care for the babies.

Read more wildlife rescues.

Photos, from above, provided by DEC: ECO Perkins with injured owl; and young bunnies transferred to the care of a wildlife rehabilitator in Cattaraugus County.