39 | O akville B eaver | T hursday,N ovem ber 11,2021 insidehalton.com Helping all members of our community have a comfy home. Our goal is to help the Oakville Milton Humane Society raise money to help care for the hundreds of animals and wildlife that rely on Oakville and Milton Humane Society for help! This past spring A1 was proud to donate over $3500 to the Oakville Milton Society's Mission Pawsible initiative. We helped OMHS reach their fundraising target of over $50,000! Join us in donating by visiting omhs.ca/donate as we continue to work hard to raise more money for OMHS. Gunther and Carmen Hartleb had just sat down for breakfast when they noticed something in their backyard. The Hartlebs enjoy at- tracting different birds to their yard and usually have a bird feeder, but had taken it down. Now something was hanging from the wire usually held the feeder. As Gunther approached it, he realized it was a small screech owl that had im- paled its wing on the wire. "I don't know if he'd been hanging there all night," Gunther said. He quickly went and got a pair of leather gloves -- and is thankful he did. As he worked to free the bird, it dug its quarter-inch tal- ons into his hand. Once he freed it, he tried to calm the bird that was no bigger than his hand. It was unable to fly, so he found a box protect it. Gun- ther called the Owl Foun- dation, a Niagara Region group that rehabilitates in- jured owls and other birds of prey. The foundation picked up the bird and treated its wing for any potential in- fection. When it was healthy and able to fly, they informed the Hartlebs they would be returning to re- lease the bird in their back- yard. Because the birds are territorial, it is best to re- lease them where they were found. The release became a bit of an event, with their grandchildren and neigh- bours' children coming to watch. But there wasn't much to see at first. "The owl was in the box, but it took a while before it decided to come out," Car- men said. "It just sat in the corner and wouldn't fly out," Gun- ther added. Giving the owl a little encouragement, Gunther tilted the box a little. "It was like a flash com- ing out of the box. It was a matter of three seconds and it was gone," he said. "We'll probably never see it again." The Hartlebs are just happy they were able to help. "(Gunther) is very much into nature and likes hav- ing the birds in the yard." Carmen said. "I'm glad we have people like (the Owl Foundation) that can help," Gunther said. COUPLE HELPS INJURED OWL TAKE FLIGHT Gunther and Carmen Hartleb found a small screech owl impaled on a wire in their backyard. After contacting an owl rehabilitation centre, the owl was released in their back yard once it was healthy. Cindy Wasyliw photo HERB GARBUTT hgarbutt@metroland.com NEWS OWL FOUNDATION CALLED IN TO HELP "It was like a flash coming out of the box. It was a matter of three seconds and it was gone." - Gunther Hartleb