With a bike event coming up this weekend, I needed to get more climbing in; but when I woke up yesterday I realized I needed a rest day. With a bit of a late start, I headed for Bernal (known to some as “IBM Hill” for the private grounds at the top). I made a u-turn rather than stopping at the usual picnic table to enjoy my snack, heading instead for the ranch (Bernal-Gulnac-Joice).
I was surprised to see two ranger trucks there, mid-week; the buildings are open only on weekends. A ranger was unloading an animal carrier, and when I said “good morning” he smiled and asked if I'd like to see a special animal. Well, of course, but the carrier was empty? “It's an owl, we're here to pick it up.”
And there, in the rock-reinforced pit where volunteers had been cautioned not to venture (known to harbor rattlesnakes), was another ranger keeping watch over a magnificent great horned owl.
Was this why a red-tailed hawk had soared overhead, with a piercing cry, more or less on the same route as I? Had it spotted the weakened owl and hoped to dive in for an easy meal, put off (perhaps) by the ranger who stood nearby?
The bird seemed almost in a trance, not reacting at all to our presence. I don't know if it helps, but I spoke to it in a calm, reassuring tone. “It's okay, sweetie, we're here to help.” The ranger carried something soft—an old sweatshirt, I think. He deftly draped it over the bird and eased it into the carrier; it tried to extend its wings, but he gently smoothed them down and closed the door.
Someone had been dispatched to pick up the carrier; likely destination would be the Wildlife Center of Silicon Valley (whose logo, fittingly, features a great horned owl).
What was ailing this bird? My guess is that it had the misfortune to eat a poisoned rat, and was now suffering the effects of the poison. If so, the outlook is bleak.
Please: Don't use poison baits. Just ... don't. (Use snap traps.)
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