Murray Zelt was enjoying photographing a northern pygmy owl hunting a vole near 100 Mile House in B.C.’s Cariboo, about 500 kilometres north of Vancouver, when he watched the tiny raptor get hit by a car on Highway 97.
“I’m elated seeing it with this prey and just in awe and wonder, and next thing you know, this car exactly at that time nails it dead-on on the highway, and it’s doing highway speed.”
He says he watched in horror as the bird bounced on the road, and its prey flew out of its talons, and he knew he wanted to get the owl off the road if possible.
After watching a second vehicle, a truck, nearly hit the bird, he was able to run out and grab the bird in his bare hands.
“It’s just lifeless in my hand, and I literally had tears in my eyes.”
According to OWL (Orphaned Wildlife) Rehabilitation Society in Delta, B.C., vehicle strikes are one of the most common ways the group ends up with injured owls at the centre, but whether the bird lives or dies all depends on the small details.
“With these types of situations, depending on the size of the bird and depending on the vehicle and depending on how fast they’re going, a matter of an eighth of an inch could mean the difference between life, death or crippled or being fine,” said society general manager Rob Hope.
Fortunately for the little owl, Zelt had actually had experience rescuing injured owls in the past. In 2023, he helped with the rescue and eventual release of a great horned owl near 100 Mile House.
He called OWL for advice and was told the best thing to do was to put it in a small dark box and take it out in a small room to see if it could fly.
On that evening of Jan. 7, Zelt checked on the owl, and it flew out of the box and onto a tennis racket sitting in his entranceway.
“I took a couple of pictures and got them back down, put them back in the box, and I thought I was just so inspired that it might survive.”
When it became clear that the owl had regained its strength, he made plans to release it the following day.
When he arrived at the spot, he opened the box, expecting the bird to fly away immediately.
“It kind of just looked at me, like for about five seconds, almost, almost like it was thanking me. It was a really beautiful moment.”
Zelt said when the bird did leave, it appeared to be in good shape.
For OWL’s Rob Hope, this is an ideal outcome.
“We always want the birds in the wild. We don’t want them here if they don’t need the help.”
Since releasing the northern pygmy owl, Zelt has driven along the same route several times and believes he’s seen the bird back in the same place along the highway.
“I almost give it heck as I drive by, you know, yell at it, ‘Stay off the highway,'” he said.
“To me, it’s truly a minor miracle of survival.”
According to the BC SPCA and the OWL rescue group, drivers can reduce collisions with raptors by being vigilant for wildlife and not tossing food scraps along the side of highways, which may attract animals.
Daybreak Kamloops8:09Cariboo photographer help owl after vehicle strike
Photographer Murray Zelt has quite a bit of experience with helping raptors. A few years ago he helped rescue a great horned owl and now this month, he’s helped out a Northern pygmy owl that got hit near 100 Mile House.
