Wildlife Rehabilitators don’t always have the luxury of a lunch hour. Another one was interrupted in mid-November by a ringing doorbell. "Now what?" I thought.

I opened the door to find Dawnmarie – my dispatcher for the day, standing there, apologizing for interrupting my lunch hour. She had received a call about an injured Owl on the 219 Expressway. The caller indicated that he had witnessed an Owl get hit by an 18 wheel truck early that morning. He thought the Owl was instantly killed, so he proceeded on to his appointment. A few hours later, when he was on his way home, he saw the Owl, hunched over at the side of the road. That’s when he called Messinger Woods, and Dawnmarie sprang into action.

Upon my examination, he had blood in his left eye, some slight signs of blood in the ear canal, was obviously in shock, undernourished, weak, unable to stand, and suffering from a serious head injury. He did not have any broken bones that were obvious – a miracle in itself. He was slowly warmed, administered a small amount of rehydration fluid, and left alone while I went back to work. The afternoon was torture for me, worrying about that bird. If we had a hospital up and running, he could be properly monitored. Luckily for him – he has shown a remarkable amount of stamina, courage and the sheer will to live.

Over the next few days, he was administered the appropriate amount of fluids, and when he was ready, very small amounts of warmed food. I contacted one of our Vets, Dr. Tomaschke, who thoroughly checked his eyes, ear canals, mouth and throat areas. He verified the serious head injury (concussion) and determined that there were no fractures. He sent me home with the prognosis of long term care for this Owl – at least 6 months to properly determine whether his hearing and sight would return to release capacity. Owls depend upon their hearing and sight to survive in the wild. Without the return of those senses, he would not be releasable.

Although I try very hard not to get attached to the animals I treat ... and hopefully release, it is very difficult not to in a lot of cases. This one, for sure, is one of those. I have helped him eat, stand, and control his body temperature. I have shut down the lights, stood very still and made the most ridiculous "mice sounds" you could think of, all in an effort to move him along in the right direction --- towards release. America’s Funniest Home Videos should get a load of all of this – I would win, hands down. Somewhere during all these antics, being the football fan that I am, I started calling him "Steve", after Steve Young, the quarterback who was forced to leave the game of football because of all his head injuries. I hope Steve Young doesn’t mind that this Barred Owl is named after him. Let's hope my Steve has as many fans as Steve Young did -–and maybe this Steve will to go to his very own "Super Bowl" and regain his freedom. I’ll keep you informed.