TIMMINS - A snowy owl had a harrowing experience downtown.
On April 3, a snowy owl led Julie Trottier and her daughter Chloe on a chase through Timmins. The owl had been harassed by crows and was not flying well when they spotted it.
“I saw a bunch of crows that were ganging up on something but I thought it was a seagull because I saw something white,” said Trottier. “And then I saw the little owl run away across the street on foot.”
Trottier said the owl seemed tired and could only fly for short bursts when the crows got aggressive again, but it was fast on its feet.
She said her daughter was ready to make sure the owl was safe all by herself.
“She had the blanket in hand and she said ‘Let’s do this!’” she said. “She was doing this with or without me!”
After several attempts, they went home to clean up and found the owl in front of their house.
“I get to the door and she said ‘It’s right outside of the house’, so I said, We’re doing this one more time,” said Trottier. “We had no intention of capturing this thing because I don’t know how and I’m too chicken!”
They spotted a scene down Maple Street that told them where he’d gotten to.
“She sees a crow in a tree and a woman with a snowball in hand and says ‘he’s there!’” said Trottier.
With a few other people who had joined the chase, they eventually cornered the owl in a yard on Elm Street South and got it into a container.
“He tried to climb up the snow bank, but when he got to the snow bank, he couldn’t get up very fast,” she said. “She lunged herself, grabbed the owl! I wish I’d caught it on tape because I’ve never seen someone stretch so far and succeed!”
Trottier said she isn’t surprised at her daughter’s reaction to the owl.
“Determination was the key thing here,” she said. “She’s always been a huge fan of wildlife and helping, and that’s actually what she wants to do when she graduates.”
They contacted the Turtle Pond Wildlife Centre in Greater Sudbury, and were able to find someone to take the owl to the wildlife rescue.
Turtle Pond Wildlife founder Gloria Morrisette said they expected the bird to arrive on Friday, and they won’t know until it’s been stabilized what kind of shape it’s in.
Trottier said that the owl was responsive this morning before its road trip.
“We put some pine branches in there, and he survived the night,” said Trottier. “I don’t know if he made it there yet, but they left around 9 a.m.”
