By Sharon St Joan

Early in the spring of 2013, in northern Utah, a rancher noticed an owl caught in a fence on his property. The owl was motionless, and he assumed she was dead. Passing by the next day, he went over to take a closer look, and he then realized that the owl was still alive. He freed the owl from the barbed wire of the fence as best he could, but unfortunately, in the process, he caused further damage to the owl’s wing.

He called the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, and they sent out an officer to pick up the owl. The location of the ranch was remote, and the only way to get there was to drive first into Idaho, and then backtrack into Utah. It was a trip of about 200 miles, and another officer from DWR drove the owl the final stretch to…