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SAN JOSE, Calif. (KTVU) -- A community in east San Jose came together recently to help give an injured barn owl a second chance at live.
Firefighters were called out to a neighborhood near Old Piedmont Road and Proud Drive on June 8 after the owl was found tangled up in a light post.
"It looked like maybe the owl had a broken wing," said San Jose firefighter Greg Estrada. "It was struggling."
Rescuers said they didn't think she'd make it if it hadn't been for the timely rescue by firefighters. The bird was in bad shape, unable to fly, hunt or eat.
"All of her weight was just hanging on that one wing for an extensive period of time," said Ashley Kinney, of the Wildlife Center of Silicon Valley. "So there was some tissue damage and open wounds."
Estrada said when their crew responded to the injured bird, Captain Jonas Escalera climbed up the ladder to untangle the owl.
"The owl was tired, very tired. Once we were up there and pulling owl out, the owl was almost falling in our arms," said Estrada. "It was very weak and very tired; probably been there all night."
Kinney said the owl weighed less than one pound when it was admitted to the Wildlife Center.
It has spent the last 7 weeks at the Center, getting antibiotics, cage rest and a lot of supportive care.
"It was a lot of intensive force feedings, because she's not used to being in captivity, so it was just high stress levels for her," said Kinney.
The owl spent the last three weeks in an outdoor flight enclosure to allow her to re-build flight muscles, Kinney explained.
Rescuers say that thanks to a community coming together to help, the owl is now healthy enough to be set free. The bird's release is scheduled for Tuesday afternoon and will take place in east San Jose within a few miles of where she was found.