Man Finds Owl In Truck Grille After Driving 300 Miles

Conservancy of Southwest Florida / Facebook

Man Finds Owl In Truck Grille After Driving 300 MilesTorie Gray was in the process of moving his belongings from Alabama to Southwest Florida when he found a great horned owl stuck inside the grille of his truck.

Torie told officials he had traveled about 300 miles before noticing the bird but has a good idea of how it got there. He explained that he was driving down I-75 when he saw a vehicle in front of him swerve over trying to miss the owl that was standing in the road.

It happened so fast and he didn’t have time to move and Torie ends up accidentally hitting the owl. He thought that was the end of it, however, 300 miles later when he stopped in Naples, Florida, he noticed the grille of his truck was damaged. As he inspected it, he was surprised to find the owl still lodged in the truck.

At this point, he immediately called the Conservancy of Southwest Florida to come remove the owl. Tim Thompson, a volunteer at the conservancy, showed up at the scene and both men marveled at how good of shape the owl was still in.

“Nobody knows how it is alive. He had lost a few feathers, but he was pretty alert,” Tim told Wink News. “Every single person was shocked. They can’t believe it. I think it is just an amazing story.”

The owl was quickly taken to a wildlife hospital where it was treated for swelling and a laceration to one of its elbows. After giving it fluids, pain medication, laser therapy, and placing it in a cage to recover for a week, staff moved him to an outdoor enclosure where he can finish out the rest of his recovery and be released back into the wild.

Learn All About Great Horned Owls Below