This little pygmy owl was carrying his prey, wasn’t watching where he was going, and slammed into my sliding glass door, knocking him out for quite a while.  If this ever happens to you, give the poor animal a couple of hours to come out of it.  If it’s not in harms way, just leave it be.  If there are dogs or cats or other predators around, then put it in a box, keep it quiet and safe, and leave it alone for a couple of hours (do NOT keeping peeking in at it).  Yes, it may very well take a solid 2 hours to come out of it.  If, however, you see signs of injury such as blood, it needs to be taken immediately to your nearest rehab & rescue center.  The same holds true if it’s still not able to fly after 2 hours. It may have suffered head trauma.

One final note, sometimes when we see an eagle or other bird of prey on the ground, we immediately think it’s injured.  This is not always the case.  It may have just eaten and is not able to take flight yet. Keep an eye on it for a couple of hours.  If you’re able to approach it after a couple of hours of being on the ground, then it’s time to call your nearest rehab & rescue center and ask their advice.  As always, if you need help finding your closest rescue center, contact me. I can help.

In response to The Daily Post’s Photo Challenge:  Eye Spy.

As for the pygmy owl above, he was out cold and laying on his back, opened his eyes eventually, flipped over onto his feet, regained his senses, then took off after about 30 minutes.  I had the extreme displeasure of cleaning up the headless prey that he left behind.