The Wildlife Rescue Association's first "patient" of 2012 arrived in rather dramatic fashion on New Year's Day.
It all started shortly after New Year's Eve, when Port Moody bus driver Thomas Stryj was heading home around 1 a.m. after his night shift. Stryj was driving down Hastings Street, close to Kensington, when he spotted something in the middle of the road and swerved suddenly.
"It looked like a small box, and as I got closer I saw it was an owl," Stryj said. "Cars were whizzing by, just missing him literally by inches."
Stryj turned back, got out of the car and tried to coax the barred owl off the road, but it couldn't fly. So Stryj took a blanket from his car, bundled the bird and drove it to Burnaby's Wildlife Rescue Association. But at about 1: 30 a.m., the centre was closed, so Stryj found a kennel behind the building, placed the owl inside and wrote a note for staff.
"He was scared, he had his beak open," Stryj said. "He was such a beautiful owl, and I was just looking in his eyes, and I was talking to him, and he calmed down."
Stryj said he stayed for about 20 minutes, just trying to comfort the animal.
"I didn't want to leave, he was so beautiful," Stryj said. "I was talking to him saying, 'It will be alright, they'll come help you soon,' and he just listened and tilted his head. It was so cute."
Ana Mendes, one of the wildlife rehabilitators, arrived for work the next morning and heard the owl making a ruckus in the kennel, trying to escape. She took it inside for an examination and found it was suffering from a concussion but did not have any broken bones. The owl is expected to make a full recovery and should be released in the wild soon.
The association gets several owls this time of year, according to spokesperson Yolanda Brooks.
"Food is scare, and they have to hunt for longer and over wider terrain, which brings them into urban areas more often," she said. "Young owls have just left their parents and are still learning how to fend for themselves in the wild." Some owls, such as Northern saw-whet owls come down from higher elevations and suddenly have to deal with people, buildings and cars, she added.
Brooks said this barred owl was likely hit by a car at a time when most people just wanted to go home and go to bed, but this bus driver cared enough to stop and help, she said.
"If he hadn't intervened, the owl would have died. Thanks to Tom's actions, this barred owl has been given a second shot at life."
For Stryj, leaving the owl in the street was unthinkable.
"I care about animals. I hate to see anything distressed," he said. "They all need our help. If everybody in the world pitched in just a little bit, the world wouldn't be a bad place."
