Older and wiser

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MARY REICHARD, HOST: One young owl learned a hard lesson the hard way.

He got himself trapped inside a cement mixer at a construction site in southwestern Utah.

While pouring concrete, workers discovered the bird: they hosed him down, wrapped him in a towel, and sent him to a wildlife sanctuary.

Staff spent days picking dried concrete from his feathers, but the damage left him unable to fly silently, giving delicious prey a chance to escape.

So, wildlife staff performed a delicate procedure called “imping”, that is, grafting donor feathers onto the damaged wing.

After months of recovery, the moment of truth: The great horned owl lifted off, hovered for just a moment, and then disappeared soundlessly back into the wild.

Older and wiser.

It’s The World and Everything in It. 

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