It was an adorably active few days for the Harford County Sheriff's Department, as a baby squirrel was rescued from a road on Tuesday afternoon, and an injured baby great horned owl was found at a home off Goosecross Court the week prior.
Meet Chip! Chips is a baby squirrel found in the middle of the street in Whiteford by one of our off duty Deputies yesterday afternoon. The deputy, stopped, called Animal Control and helped save the baby. Animal Control took Chip to Phoenix Wildlife Center #BabyAnimal pic.twitter.com/bBDONH0X51
— Harford Sheriff (@Harford_Sheriff) April 24, 2018
The squirrel, who was given the moniker "Chip," was spotted in a median in Whiteford by an officer. He was taken to the Phoenix Wildlife Center by Animal Control.
"He's doing fine," said Kathy Woods, the Clinic Director at the animal rehabilitation center. She said the juvenile squirrel is about four weeks old, and he'll remain at the center until he's 15 weeks old, when he'll be reintroduced to the wild. As to how he made it to the middle of the road, that's more of a mystery, though it could have been a fortuitous break. Woods speculated he may have been dropped by a predator and landed there.
More baby animals! Animal Control Officers were called to Goosecross Ct last week and found a young owl on a deck in the neighborhood. The Animal Control Officer was able to get it safely to Phoenix Wildlife Center, so it can be rehabbed! pic.twitter.com/gYp1ZoAJt5
— Harford Sheriff (@Harford_Sheriff) April 25, 2018
The owl was in slightly tougher straits. Roughly six to eight weeks old, the tiny raptor is considered a "brancher" at that age, Woods said, meaning he could venture out of the nest and onto tree limbs, though he would still be cared for by a parent. He looks to have fallen, injuring his left "wrist" in the process. He'll rehab for roughly six weeks before he too can return to the wild.
It is the hope of the Phoenix Wildlife Center to return as many of their injured animals to the wild as possible. They coordinate with the Department of Natural Resources to find suitable spots to release the animals when they are ready to return to the wild.
