Rescued owls doing well at hunt club

GREAT BRIDGE

If you're walking through the Twin Oaks Hunt Club woods and feel a pair of eyes watching you, you're probably right.

Last month, three rehabilitated great horned owls were released into the area.

It was back in June when Martin Holton, a member of the hunt club that leases land along West Road, found a great horned owl chick.

"I watched it for two days, but it stayed on the ground," he said, leaving it vulnerable to predation by coyotes, foxes and feral cats. He called in a friend, Doug Davis, an environmentalist for the club and an ornithologist. After a brief chase, the owl was caught, and it was determined it needed to be taken to Wildlife Response, Inc. of Chesapeake.

After four months, WRI's Lisa Barlow decided to release the owl - along with two others she had been rehabbing - back to its original location.

Holton said after the juveniles were released, other owls joined the newly released threesome on tree branches.

"It was wonderful the land we lease for our hunt club was able to provide safe sanctuary for the owls," Holton said.

If you have found injured wildlife, call the WRI hotline at 543-7000.

To donate to WRI, visit www.wildlife response.org.

Devon Hubbard Sorlie, 222-5202, devon.sorlie@pilotonline.com