Homeward bound
<p>Sgt. Mark Brantl, with the Post Falls Police Department, releases a great horned owl Monday near the area where the bird was found injured as Sgt. Gary James looks on. The owl, that was captured by the two officers and a neighborhood resident, was rehabilitated by Birds of Prey Northwest.</p>
<p>Sgt. Mark Brantl handles a great horned owl that he was part of rescuing late last summer.</p>
POST FALLS - Police and residents gave a hoot.
And a rehabilitated great-horned owl was returned to its natural habitat on Monday night as a result.
"Any time you can put an animal back into the wild it's a great program," said Sgt. Gary James with Post Falls police.
The owl, which suffered a dislocated shoulder late last summer after being struck by a vehicle, was found by Eddie Bateman in his driveway in the Prairie Falls subdivision last summer.
Bateman called police and Post Falls Sgt. Mark Brantl, Bateman's college roommate, and James responded.
The three secured the owl, likely a male, per the instructions of the nonprofit Birds of Prey Northwest, which rescues and rehabilitates birds of prey.
"I blinded it with my flashlight, Mark got a blanket (to cover the owl) and Eddie got a box," said James, adding that he contacted Birds of Prey after he remembered it put on a class at the Post Falls library.
Jane Fink, a raptor biologist and executive director of the nonprofit, said she can't recall police being involved with a rescue in the more than 20 years she's been helping the birds.
That's why she allowed Brantl and James to have the honors of releasing the owl and another great-horned owl that had been rehabilitated at the wooded area at the intersection of Spokane Street and Poleline Avenue near Prairie Falls Golf Course and Evergreen Cemetery.
So, similar to using a "granny" basketball shot style, the sergeants returned the owls to the wild.
Fink called the releases victories for the environment.
"One of the reasons we should give a hoot is that birds of prey serve important biological functions," she said. "Owls can eat about 15 mice per day."
The rescue in Post Falls picked up bird supporters along the way.
Brantl and his wife Danna took care of the owl for the night and became volunteers for Birds of Prey Northwest.
"We've also rescued two pygmy owls and a crow," Danna said.
Fink said about 50 percent of the bird admissions to the nonprofit come from the Post Falls area, likely because of proximity to field mice on the Rathdrum Prairie.
"We are increasingly colliding with these birds with wind farms, electrocutions, lead poisoning and vehicles," Fink said, adding that nearly all of the injuries are due to man-made consequences.
"So whose responsibility is it to fix these birds? They don't have any health insurance when they fall from the sky, so somebody has to take care of them."
What to do
Birds of Prey Northwest recommends three steps if you encounter an injured owl, hawk, falcon or eagle:
1. Cover the bird's head with a shirt, jacket or blanket.
2. Hold it by its legs. (Be careful - talons are sharp.)
3. Put the bird in the trunk of a vehicle or a box.
4. Call Birds of Prey at 245-1367 or Idaho Fish and Game at 769-1414.