EVANSVILLE, Ind. (AP) - A snowy owl that had taken up residence near the Evansville Regional Airport last month has been moved because of the danger it posed to airplanes.
The immature owl was moved Wednesday by airport biologist Kile Westerman, who works with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services Department, the Evansville Courier & Press reported (https://bit.ly/1bgRvHR ). When the owl first was spotted on Dec. 17, traffic controllers would notify Westerman of approaching aircraft and he would chase the owl from the property in his red truck.
Airport officials decided that because of the potential for a collision with a plane, the owl needed to be captured and moved to an undisclosed rural location several miles from the airport.
Westerman said trapping the owl had no ill effects on the bird.
“In fact, when I was ready to release it, the bird perched calmly on my arm, checking out the landscape, ruffling its feathers, in no hurry to take off. I finally had to give it a bit of a launch to get it on its way,” he said.
Snowy owls aren’t usually spotted in Evansville. They’re typically found in Canada and the Arctic, but scientists suspect this year’s successful breeding season combined with severe weather sent more owls farther afield than usual. They have been reported this winter across the Midwest, Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states and as far south as Florida.
“A massive snowy owl irruption is going on this year - the biggest in decades,” said Pat Leonard of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
___
Information from: Evansville Courier & Press, https://www.courierpress.com
Please read our comment policy before commenting.