Scops Owl Rescued

We were at the cross junction of Persiaran Multimedia and Ceria last night, when we saw a ''furball-like'' animal in the middle of the street. It looked like a cat, but when we saw the big eyes, we realized it was an owl. We turned back to the junction, stopped at the traffic light and turned on the car hazard light. Ritz went down and confirmed it was an injured owl; static, but alive. I couldn't go down to assist, as I had excited kids at the back seat, jumping up and down.

I passed the car seat cover to Ritz and asked him to cape the owl and move it to the side of the road. Initially, the owl flapped its wings and resisted. There were many fast moving cars and buses crossing the junction. The owl didn't move an inch although a couple of cars almost ran over it. Ritz quickly ran towards the owl, covered and moved it to the roadside.

Here's how the owl looks like. I believe it was a juvenile, and could have possibly injured its legs. The wings looked fine. Kids persuaded us to bring it back for treatment, but we thought it wouldn't be good for the owl.

Based on initial research, it could be either the oriental or collared scops owl. It was small, short with whitish chest. The eyes were not big - perhaps because it was withstanding pain.

We went to the spot where we left it this morning. Kids were a bit upset as they were not able to find it. They named it Olla. Hope Olla recovered and found its way back home.