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There’s just something about birds…

Interesting experiences have left Karrie Crucil wondering what the heck is up with birds.
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Karrie Crucil rescued this little owl on her way to work last Thursday morning. He spent the day recuperating from his attack and was released by Crucil on her way home that same evening.

Karrie Crucil loves animals.  She and her family have horses, a dog and cat and she owns and operates the local dog groomers—Barking Bubbles Grooming.

Over the past few months, Crucil has had some interesting experiences that have left her wondering what the heck is up with birds.

Heading into town along the Old Hedley Road, on Thursday morning, Crucil saw a small owl  being attacked by a murder of crows. “They were pecking his poor little head to death,” she said, “I just had to help him.”

“And two of the crows each had him by his wings and were trying to rip him apart,” she added.

Crucil scared off the crows and proceeded to wrap the little owl in a fleece jacket. Once the very shaken little guy was bundled up, he calmed right down.

Not sure if he was badly injured or not, Crucil decided to take him to work with her so she could keep an eye on him and contact help if she needed to. She named the little owl Pete.

Crucil put some branches and water inside one of the larger kennels in her shop and placed Pete inside. He remained quiet and still for quite a while.

Later in the afternoon, she heard a rustle above and realized that Pete had gotten himself out of the kennel and was flying around inside the shop.

She looked up towards him and he flew down and landed beside her on the desk. Crucil then extended her arm out and Pete climbed up her arm and cuddled in on her shoulder.

Knowing now that he was not seriously injured, she decided to give him a little more rest and put him inside a smaller kennel with a towel over it to provide a dark place for him to sleep until she could return him to his home.

Crucil received permission to release Pete on the Antonick property which is close to where she had rescued him earlier that morning.

She said that Pete was well rested and flew back home without any trouble.

Just a few days before Christmas, a group of kids walking down from the high school, came across an injured hawk. The kids all know Miranda Crucil, Karrie’s daughter, so they decided to bring the hawk to Crucil at Barking Bubbles Grooming.

Crucil contacted the South Okanagan Rehabilitation Centre (SORCO) www.sorco.org in Oliver, but before they could get here, the hawk died.

During the first week of October 2013, Crucil was driving past the Princeton Chevron when she noticed Joanne McIvor, Tina Krause and a police officer trying to corral a large bird in the parking lot.

Figuring that she could help, Crucil pulled in to see if they wanted to use one of her animal crates.

The bird was an unhappy loon and was quite vocal as well as confrontational.

Soon enough, the four adults were able to corral the loon with the blanket and get it into the crate and load it into Crucil’s truck.

Crucil called the Kamloops Wildlife Park www.bczoo.org and arrangements were made for her to transport the loon who was now named George, to the park where it would be received after hours.

George spent a few months in rehabilitation at the park and was released at the end of December down in Vancouver, alongside the Pacific Ocean.

Crucil is happy that both George and Pete survived and were returned to their homes, but is a little curious as to why these experiences have happened.

Maybe, there is just something about Karrie Crucil...