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Owl that collided with ambulance released into wild

Crews discovered the bird in the grille of the ambulance while on an emergency call and took it to an animal clinic where it was rehabilitated

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Image East Alabama Medical Center Facebook

OPELIKA, Ala. — An owl that flew into the grille of an East Alabama Medical Center ambulance was released into the wild after about 45 days of rehabilitation.

EMTs aboard the ambulance took action to save the bird’s life, then brought it to the Southeastern Raptor Center at Auburn University, oanow.com reports.

Crew members were on an emergency call when the owl flew in front of them on a highway, East Alabama Medical Center supervisor John McCracken said.

“At first, they didn’t know they hit him, but it wasn’t until later when they got done that somebody saw it and that it was stuck in the grille,” he said. “They went and checked and he was still alive, so they cut a portion of it away to get him out and get him in a cardboard box to carry him over to the emergency room at the small animal clinic.”

The owl was then taken to the raptor center for rehabilitation.

“It was pretty neat,”McCraken said about watching the owl get released back into the wild.