When fishing in the woods, people expect to catch common fish like bass or carp. One of the last things they expect to catch is an owl. However, this is what happened to Elmre Olceroglu when he went fishing at a lake in New Jersey.
He often shares his fishing videos on his YouTube channel, and he happened to have his camera with him on this day.
This time, instead of filming the fish he caught, he recorded a screech owl trapped in a fishing line hanging from a tree and how he rescued the stuck animal.
At the beginning of the video, Olceroglu shows us the beautiful scenery of the lake.
The owl is camouflaged at first, but a few seconds later, we can see the owl tied to a tree and hanging down. The owl immediately begins screeching when Olceroglu approaches it.
Screech owls get their names from the screeching sound they make when they are scared.
“Don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid,” he reassures the owl as he goes near the plant where the owl is partially perched.
When he tries to hold the owl, the owl tries to fly away and ends up going around in a circle and flapping his free wing.
You can clearly see the fear on the poor owl’s face.
Olceroglu finally catches the bird and holds its body gently.
He brings out nail clippers and successfully cuts the fishing line that is tying the bird to the tree.
“Now, I’m going to try to cut this part of the line without letting him fly away because if he flies away, he’s going to have to live with this piece of line here for all his life,” Olceroglu shared.
The nail clippers are a bit dull, so it takes Olceroglu a few minutes to completely remove the fishing line tied around the owl’s wing.
The owl is finally calm and it seems like it understands that Olceroglu is trying to help, not harm him.
Finally, Olceroglu removes the line around the wing completely. The owl no longer has any fishing line attached to any part of its body.
Olceroglu holds the owl in his hands and worries that the owl’s wing might be injured or broken because of the fishing line.
However, the owl escapes Olceroglu’s hands, and his wings are clearly working. He flies away and lands on a log before it finally flies across the lake.
Netizens also supported Olceroglu, while others gave their advice and opinions.
One YouTube user posted, “You didn’t change the whole world, but you sure did change it for that owl. You’re a hero, man.”
“For anyone else that might find themselves in a similar situation with a trapped and injured animal and don’t think they have what it takes to help the animal, the best thing to do is call the local game wardens as this is the kind of thing they are trained to handle. What you did was very brave, and you’re very lucky that you weren’t injured,” one comment said.
Fortunately, the owl and Olceroglu survive the incident unscathed.
We’re so happy Olceroglu saved the baby owl and also didn’t get hurt in the process!
If he hadn’t come by when he did, the owl’s life would certainly have been in danger.
Watch the video of the baby owl’s rescue below!
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