Big Bear linemen rescue dangling owl trapped in electrical wires

Big Bear linemen rescued a great horned owl that was trapped in electrical wires.

The crew from Bear Valley Electric Service said the nocturnal bird was dangling upside down during the day. 

"I didn't think it was going to be alive when we got there," apprentice lineman Adam Perry said.

But after the owl turned its head and looked at them, the crew realized it was alive and shut off the power to rescue the owl.

"He was allowing my lineman to touch him," foreman Drake Tessendorf said. "He wasn't trying to peck at him or move or anything."

Tessendorf's crew said one of the owl's legs was twisted between two wires. They used a jib on their truck to set him upright and held open the wires that were trapping him. 

"He wanted the help is what it felt like," Tessendorf said. 

Perry said the owl flew to the house below them after the crew freed him. Christy McGiveron and the Big Bear Alpine Zoo helped take care of the nocturnal bird and brought him back to their facility to monitor him. 

"We gave him fluids and some pain meds for about three days," McGiveron said. 

They also gave him X-rays and a place to rest before taking him back to the wild six nights later. 

"That's personally one of my favorite parts of my job," McGiveron said. "Giving them a second chance."

She said they've rescued 80 birds this year, noting that the biggest threats to great horned owls are human-made. 

"Being hit by a car is usually the No. 1 reason we get them, because they're not super fast flyers," McGiveron said.

Bear Valley Electric said it's doing its part covering the connections to protect wildlife, but the guys said they never thought they'd see the wide-eyed wonder in such a precarious perch, and they're just glad they could help him survive.