In Springfield, Massachusetts a Barred Owl was recently found hanging out at the Holyoke Health Center. He was perched about 15 ft. up on the building and drew quite a lot of attention by people passing by.

According to Erick Velez, Animal Control Officer at the T.J. O’Connor Animal Control and Adoption Center, “It’s not uncommon to have them be in these areas. It’s probably uncommon for the people to have noticed him.”

Velez went onto to say that Barred Owls feed on small animals like mice and squirrels which are abundant in the area. But this time it became important to rescue the owl from this situation. It turns out that it was not the people who were being threatened by the own but rather the other way around.

People were throwing things at the owl and swooshing a broom at him to try to get him to fly away. The animal control officer was more concerned about something happening to the owl so they had to step in and rescue the owl before he was hurt.

Fortunately the owl appears to be in good health with no injuries. Velez recommends for those who come across a Barred Owl in the future, to just let them be. For now the main concern is to work with the Massachusettes' Envrionmental police and a local bird of prey expert to figure out how and where to reintroduce him back into the wild.