On May 28, an Oregon farmer, Lexie, received an urgent message from her sister-in-law: There was an injured barn owl down the road from her house, deeply entangled in a barbed wire fence.
Without hesitation, Lexie found the owl, carefully dislodged him from the fence with gloved hands, and drove him to the Chintimini Wildlife Center.
“What a day! I'm so thankful my sister in law stopped when she saw something was wrong and called for help so we could save this beautiful owl! He seemed so grateful,” Lexie posted on TikTok, under the account @uncstan.
From there, the staff at Chintimini Wildlife Center took over, cataloging the owl’s day-to-day milestones as he took slow strides towards recovery.
“So far, holding steady,” the rescue posted on June 1. “He has progressed through the first stages of emaciation protocol, and the next step will be to see if he can handle eating solid food on his own — without the tube! This transition is a big one, so we’re keeping our fingers crossed!”
“We’re still discovering the damage that the barbed wire did to the wing tissue, as injuries of these type[s] can take up to a week to become fully apparent, even with initial comprehensive evaluations.”
“We’ve added a wing wrap to hopefully assist in healing the largest wound,” they explained, beneath footage of veterinary staff delicately wrapping his injured wing
Two days later, the rescue staff cheered as the owl finally started accepting solid food.
“This one is a spicy fighter!” The rescue wrote in a caption, under screech-filled footage. “So far, they are handling solids well, gaining weight, all good signs! We will do another exam tomorrow to re-check how healing of the wounds are progressing!”
On June 6, the rescue celebrated another huge milestone.
“We are so happy to let everyone know that, while still very underweight, barn owl #25-580 (AKA TikTok Barn Owl) has moved past the emaciation classification, which is truly fantastic news,” The rescue said.
“All credit to the incredibly hard-working rehabilitation team at CWC, who always provide the best care possible, whether the patient is internet famous or not!”
As the owl continued to recover from his largest “barbed wire wound” on his back wing, the staff moved him near four other barn owls to meet “his social needs.”
“They all seem to enjoy screaming in symphony!” The CWC TikTok account shared. “Or, to our Rehab staff, cacophony!”
In the same caption, they also announced that they had created t-shirts to help raise funds for the barn owl, as well as “the other 90 patients” under their care.
The shirt features the TikTok-famous bird with his wings spread wide, flying above the slogan: “No Hoots, Only Screams.”
The rescue staff said they borrowed the quote from Instagram user @bodhi_panda, who used the phrase to describe the owl’s “melodious voice.”
Although the rescue staff gets a hoot out of the many names that followers offer up for the owl, they explained that they have a strict policy against naming patients.
“Not naming patients helps protect our staff getting attached to animals that may not survive, and remind us that these are wild animals who need to stay wild so they can be released! Also why you won’t see us cuddling any patients,” the rescue wrote when the owl first came under their care.
“Fortunately we have several non-releasable ambassador animals (like Barn Owl, Bo!) who we do oooh and ahhh over frequently.”
At the time of publication, Chintimini Wildlife Center had raised over $20,000 — largely from concerned TikTok users. They had also raked in $9,538 towards their seasonal $10,000 fundraising goal.
“You are all amazing!” The rescue wrote on June 9 after their latest round of fundraising, in partnership with Birdfy. “Thank you to everyone for commenting in support and thanks Birdfy for supporting this cause and helping our wildlife!”
“This little owl's story has shed light on the fact that there are people who devote themselves to wildlife and nature,” one follower replied.
To continue learning about the barn owl’s recovery — and support the wildlife rescue at large — bird lovers can visit their official website or donate directly to the Chintimini Wildlife Center Fundraiser.
See the whole story from the beginning in Lexie's video:
Header image via Chintimini Wildlife Center and Steven Ward / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)
