A young owl that smacked into a Princeton RCMP cruiser was rescued and nursed back to health by two officers.

The incident occurred Sunday, July 3, at about 11 p.m. Constables Mike Gillis and Megan Nutt were patrolling on Highway 3, west of town, near Sunday Summit.

“They heard a thump on the side of the car,” said Sgt. Rob Hughes.

The members pulled over and backtracked on foot before they discovered a juvenile owl, a Northern Saw-Whet, unconscious on the side of the road.

“They wrapped it in a jacket, put it in the back of the police car and turned the heater on,” said Hughes.

Back at the detachment the bird began to show signs of life, and was soon ready to be touched, and eventually set free.

Hughes acknowledged that assisting wildlife is not technically a police responsibility, but the results of efforts like these have positive impacts on the team and the town.

“It’s simply because we care,” he said. “We care about our community, we care about our environment and we care about the people.”

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