Chikaming Open Lands has played a role in rehabilitating an injured owl.
Education and community outreach coordinator Grace Fredenburg tells us the Great Horned Owl was found at Verdant Hollow Farm in Buchanan last Monday. She saw a post about it on social media and reached out to the farm, which allowed her to transport the owl to Rescue Release Repeat in South Bend.
Fredenburg says she prepared a box for the creature and then headed to the farm.
“We picked it up and it made a bunch of loud clicking noises, which was really cool,” Fredenburg said. “We put it in the box and drove super slow down to South Bend, trying not to jostle it as much as possible and playing some really soft music.”
The owl’s wing was injured, but Fredenberg says the wound appeared to be superficial. She says it’s good the owl has healed so quickly because now it’s being released back into the wild Wednesday. Chikaming Open Lands, Verdant Hollow Farm, and Rescue Release Repeat are getting together for the owl’s reintroduction to the great outdoors.
“It’s kind of a cool way to bring three organizations together that are actively working towards improving our natural open spaces for our native wildlife. We thought it would be a cool way to do a public release with Rescue Release Repeat.”
They are welcoming the community to attend the release, but registration is required due to limited space at Verdant Hollow Farm. You can sign up to attend by sending an email to gball@chikamingopenlands.org.
Fredenburg notes Chikaming Open Lands is a 501c3 nonprofit that protects land throughout southern Berrien County. It is not a wildlife transport organization and does not rehab wildlife. However, she says the organization does protect and restore the native space they call home.
