The owl spent a month at a Sudbury-area rehab facility after the April attack TIMMINS, Ont. — A snowy owl rescued from a murder of crows is back in its natural habitat. See original story: Snowy owl rescued from murder of crows Julie and Chloe Trottier released the recovered owl at the end of Lefebvre Road on April 28 after it had been treated for nearly a month at the Turtle Pond Wildlife Centre. “We tried at Sandy Falls, but we saw two ravens as soon as we got there, so we took that as a sign to not release him there,” said Julie Trottier. “We wanted to give him a chance, so we headed over to the other side of the dam and released him there.” The owl was originally caught on April 3, after being harassed by crows. It was fleeing through the downtown until the Trottiers caught up with him in a yard on Elm Street South. It was transported the next day to Turtle Pond Wildlife Centre just outside of Sudbury for treatment. Chloe Trottier, a Grade 9 student, said there was no way she’d leave the owl on its own when they first saw it. “It was hurt, and I didn’t want to let it just die,” she said. “Because my mom found it, it was our responsibility because we found it and it was injured.” When the owl reached the wildlife centre, it was dehydrated, underweight and covered in ectoparasites. Ectoparasites can attach to the skin of an animal and spread other illnesses to the host. Trottier said they got updates on the owl’s arrival at the sanctuary. “It took him a while to adjust to being fed there; it was very underweight,” said Julie Trottier. “He eventually started eating by himself and began to gain weight.” When they released the owl on April 28, Chloe said it puffed up a little bit before taking off. “It went super awesome,” she said. “When we opened the crate, he looked at me and then flew away.” — Amanda Rabski-McColl is a general assignment reporter for Village Media's TimminsToday.