Dakota’s Rescue

Because of Dakota's unique situation, calls were put to neighbors and friends who would be the most likely to have seen Dakota in those early hours after his disappearance. We wanted to be sure that they were aware of the situation because he would begin to approach people when he began feeling sick     

On Sunday morning, November 13, 2011 staff came into the Wildlife In Need Center to find our beloved and much valued Great Horned Owl educational ambassador, Dakota, gone. While it was obvious the enclosure he calls home was damaged, it was unclear why it had occurred, or where he could possibly be. Once it was discovered that Dakota had escaped and was missing in the woods not far from the Center, search parties began looking and did not stop looking until three and a half weeks later when Dakota was finally rescued by staff.

In order to understand how to even approach rescuing Dakota you have to know and consider his history. Dakota is a fully-flighted imprinted owl with no physical injures. He was never trained to fly to a glove like you see at raptor shows or the zoo, because Dakota would sit on his perch and let his handlers walk right up to him and just step up onto the glove. He wanted that human interaction and therefore did not need to be trained to fly to a glove.

He has never had to hunt for food for himself. Although Dakota has all the equipment he would need to hunt, he has no clue how to use it! For this reason staff and volunteers at the center knew it would take some time for Dakota to become somewhat debilitated and hungry at which point he would begin looking to humans for help.

Throughout Dakota’s rescue help was offered in many forms from hundreds of people. This included things like tree climbing equipment, darting equipment, raptor traps and manpower. As thoughtful as these offers to help were, staff had to keep in mind the safety of the humans and owl involved.

Although it is often people’s first inclination to climb a tree to catch a bird, that would not have worked for Dakota. Flighted birds will rarely stay in a tree while you climb it. Once the bird takes off you would then be left out of position to act further. Enlisting the help of a professional tree climber would not have helped, because Dakota would not have been familiar with that person and the probability that he would have let a stranger approach is slim.

Suggestions of darting Dakota were not pursued because drug darting is primarily used on large mammals. To use such a tool on a bird up in a tree could have caused severe damage or even death. Darts involve a syringe with a charge. Once that dart hits its target a charge goes off releasing the drug into the animal’s system. If the charge of the dart didn’t kill Dakota, the fall from 40 feet in a tree would have.

Staff did attempt to use a raptor trap on Dakota, but he never came down to feed on our bait stations. We are unsure of the reason behind this other than the simple fact that he was too afraid to do so.

In order to rescue Dakota, staff and volunteers at the Wildlife In Need Center needed everyone to know that he was missing and that he would begin to approach people when he began feeling sick. The center informed the surrounding areas of where Dakota was to call the center immediately if they saw an owl flying low or approaching people. The public was advised NOT to approach him themselves as it could easily result in injury to that person or Dakota.

As an ambassador for the Wildlife In Need Center, Dakota has educated over 80,000 people in person in the last decade.  Great Horned Owls can live into their 30's in captivity so he intends to educate many more!

Every day for three and a half weeks dedicated staff and volunteers went out multiple times a day searching for Dakota. We went out looking to make sure we kept our eyes in him to know where he was and make sure he was still alive. We went eleven straight days without hearing or seeing him, those days were the hardest.

On December 5^th we received a call that people were hearing an owl hooting near their homes around 5:00PM. Staff responded to the call and ended up seeing Dakota, jesses and all. He was alive! To keep Dakota safe staff kept the news to themselves in order to ensure a safe recovery. Dakota was flying low and hooting constantly, interacting with his caretakers. We knew it wouldn’t be long before we brought him home. At 5:45AM on the morning of December 7^th staff was already on their way to this same site when they got a call that an owl was seen sitting on someone’s side deck. When wildlife rehabilitators, Mandy Feavel and Chelsea Matson arrived, Dakota was still sitting there! With flashlights and a net in tow they went to work to safely bring Dakota home. It took over an hour for Dakota to finally settle on a stoop a short enough distance from the ground to allow them to safely approach. He was sitting on the porch railing calling in distress. Mandy approached Dakota in the same way he would be approached in preparing for a program. This included talking to him and walking calmly and slowly. Dakota allowed Mandy to walk right up to him. Once she was within inches of him, she waited until he slowly closed hid eyes and grabbed both legs in the way rehabilitators are trained to handle raptors like him. “I have him!” she exclaimed to Chelsea and she yelled back, “I’ll get the car!” At last, Dakota was safe. However, Dakota had been on his own for three and a half weeks, staff wasn’t sure what condition he was going to be in.