Snowy owl rescued from vehicle grille in Duluth, Minn.

Louis Krauss, Star Tribune on Dec 24, 2024

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A snowy owl was rescued Monday evening by a woman who was surprised to find it trapped in the grille of a car in a Duluth, Minnesota, parking lot.

Annabell Whelan, a good Samaritan who had also rescued another owl earlier in the day, said she was near the Bentleyville “Tour of Lights” display at Bayfront Festival Park when she found the stuck bird.

“One owl in a day seemed crazy,” Whelan said in an email to the Minnesota Star Tribune. “But as soon as I saw that second one at Bentleyville, I knew I had to help. The people who hit it were from out of town so I knew they wouldn’t have the resources to help it like I could.”

Whelan, who works at the Lake Superior Zoo, pulled it from the vehicle and took it home for the night, housing the bird in a covered dog crate with spare blankets before bringing it to the Wildwoods wildlife rehabilitation center in Duluth on Tuesday morning.

After arriving at Wildwoods, the male snowy owl was put in a quarantine room, a standard measure done to ensure the bird doesn’t have bird flu that could spread to other animals.

Jessica LaBumbard, executive director of Wildwoods, said the owl will soon be taken to the University of Minnesota’s Raptor Center in St. Paul for treatment before it is released into the wild. LaBumbard said she doesn’t blame the driver of the car if they didn’t notice the owl stuck in the grille. But she lamented the country’s heavy emphasis on car transportation, saying it is a major problem when it comes to protecting animals.

“We’ve set up a transportation system that just doesn’t work for humans or animals,” LaBumbard said.

Out of the roughly 1,000 animals the rehab center takes in each year, around 80% to 90% of them are injured due to interactions with humans, often because they were hit by cars, LaBumbard said.

On Monday, Whelan also rescued a great gray owl that was hit by a car and later found on the side of the road in Two Harbors. That owl was also taken to Wildwoods.

“The staff there are very knowledgeable and passionate about what they do and we are so lucky to have a local nonprofit like them that care so deeply about wildlife!” Whelan said. “I’m also very grateful for all the people I know through the Lake Superior Zoo who were able to help out as best they could with their contacts, knowledge, and simply just cheering me on through both rescues.”

On her Facebook page, Whelan identifies herself as a guest experience manager at Lake Superior Zoo. In a Facebook post the zoo thanked Whelan for her quick actions.

“Yesterday, one of our amazing team members showed us the true meaning of her dedication to our mission and compassion for animals,” the zoo wrote. “In one extraordinary day, Annabell stepped up to rescue not just one BUT two owls in need of help. ... Please join us in celebrating Annabell for doing whatever it takes to protect wildlife!”

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