NANAIMO -- Three owls found in chimneys in three days is very uncommon on Vancouver Island. Nonetheless, that’s what the Raptor Rescue Society in Duncan recently responded to.
“I hadn’t seen any cases of this in the 15 years I’ve been doing this,” says society coordinator Robyn Radcliffe.
“Doing some research, it sounds like it’s quite common in the U.K. where barn owl populations are higher than they are here.”
The first rescue happened on the Saanich Peninsula after a male and female barn owl couple were found in someone’s fireplace after they had fallen down the chimney.
Two day later and only a few kilometres away from first rescue, a male barn had fallen down someone’s stove pipe.
All three owls have made a full recovery and were released back to their habitats.
Radcliffe says barn owls like to roost in small, dark areas away from predators, adding chimneys are an ideal spot.
The Raptor Rescue Society recommends putting wire netting or mesh over chimneys to prevent barn owls from entering them.
They also suggest building nest boxes using instructions that can be found online.
According to the City of Nanaimo, barn owls are the most widely distributed owl in the world, but are considered a species at-risk in British Columbia.
