Oct. 5 (UPI) — A barn owl was rescued from a sticky situation in Britain when the avian found itself trapped in a bucket of molasses.
Kirsteen Atkinson Annear said she was house sitting at a farm near Totnes, England, when she found the fledgling owl covered in molasses in a bucket.
Atkinson Annear brought the owl to Seymour Vets in Totnes, where they cleaned the sugary mixture from its feathers. Veterinarians said the owl will need to be cared for over the winter so it can molt and replace the feathers damaged by the molasses.
Mateo Ruiz of the Barn Owl Trust said the owl had probably ended up in the bucket of sheep feed while pursuing a rodent that was attracted to the molasses.
“Barn owls coexist with us, but need help avoiding hazards we create,” the Barn Owl Trust said in a Facebook post.