Owl found living in Oakville home gently evicted

Hamilton Spectator By Michael Gregory A screech owl found living in a home under construction in Oakville Thursday morning was gently evicted and is being assessed by staff at the local humane society. Geordie Cochrane and his crew from GC Project Management Inc. arrived at the home on Winston Road to find the greyish-brown bird, common in Oakville, perched on the edge of a ventilation pipe. The Oakville and Milton Humane Society (OMHS) as well as Skedaddle Humane Wildlife Control were both called in to assist in the removal of the owl, which is described as being "underweight." Skedaddle's Brandon Crawford described the owl as "docile" and said it had probably been living in the home for a while. "It was used to voices... didn't move, didn't really care, so it's probably used to people," Crawford said. "They're usually hanging out in the attics, so I'm thinking that's where this one came from." Construction crews had also just put up a vapor barrier the day before, so it's believed the owl was adjusting accordingly. "It probably came down and was looking around, or was deeper in the pipe, and now it can't back up, so that's why it surfaced here," he said. Cochrane said in his 43 years in building homes, it was his first time seeing an owl hiding out. Animal protection officer Jo Cawthorne said OMHS veterinarian technicians would determine if the bird could be released back into the wild today, or sent to the Toronto Wildlife Centre for further care. "If it does go to Toronto Wildlife, we will be sending it today with another one we rescued and they'll fatten it up, bring it back and it will be released within a kilometre of this address," she said. Cawthorne said she's received around five similar owl calls since the start of winter. "Generally we only deal with sick and injured wildlife," she said. "If the wildlife can be saved and helped, we always send it to Toronto and they take care of it from there." Crawford said it's not unusual to see an underweight owl at this time of year, and like other animals, they build up fat stores to carry them through the winter. "I think all birds are underweight at this point. We just want to be safe," he said.