Patrick Sullivan holds onto the very first owl that the family rescued just before releasing it back to the Lodge Pool where they had found it injured weeks earlier. The Sullivans have nursed several owls back to health after most of them seemed attracted to their Canyon Lake home. Some they found on their patio and yard, while others fell down their chimney. They’ve pretty well converted a spare bathroom into their owl habitat, making it the injured owls’ living quarters until they recuperate enough to be returned to the wild. Photos by Tarrie Sullivan.
House a magnet to injured owls
The Sullivan family home in Canyon Lake is some kind of owl magnet.
It seems every time the Sullivans turn around another injured owl is dropping in for a “foster visit.”
Whether it’s an owl that fell out of its nest or fell through the chimney, the Sullivans welcome the vulnerable animals with open arms into their home and look after them until they’re healthy enough to return to their own habitat.
“It all started many years ago when my son and I were at the community pool,” Tarrie Sullivan said. “My son spotted an injured owl, so we decided to bring the owl home and nurse it back to health. We made sure to do our research on owl care so we could properly help him.”
The injured owl was housed in the unconventional space of the family’s spare bathroom.
“As soon as the owl could fly and catch a mouse with ease, the owl was ready to leave,” Tarrie said. “We then released that owl by the community pool where we found it.”
Since then, the family has taken care of eight owls in total, many of which they found at their home.
Photos by Tarrie Sullivan.
“When the pandemic first hit, we were all stuck at home,” Tarrie said. “On one random day, our dogs kept barking at something. I decided to check on what they were barking at, and I found two baby owls that had fallen out of their nest.”
The two baby owls roomed together in the spare “owl” bathroom until they could grow enough to fly.
“Once the owls could fly and catch a mouse, they were ready,” Tarrie said. “And so we placed the pair on a trampoline to test if they could fly over the net. The pair successfully flew over the net. Every so often, they return to visit us.”
Around two and a half months ago, a baby owl was left abandoned on the Canyon Lake Golf Course. Mike Randall, a community member, spotted the bird and posted to a Canyon Lake Facebook page asking what to do.
Members of the Facebook Group tagged Tarrie in the Facebook post and offered to take the owl to her home. The young owl had a damaged spine, resulting in its right talon not working correctly. The owl cannot stand and can only fly about four feet off the ground.
“We’ve named this miracle owl Clover,” Tarrie said. “We’ve worked so much to rehabilitate her. She’s an absolute fighter and sweetheart. She is a strong little owl.”
A month after Clover’s adoption, Tarrie and her family were surprised to find an owl that had fallen through their chimney.
“We didn’t have a screen placed on our chimney. It was quite a shocker,” Tarrie said. “So we did what we do best. We cleaned the owl and let it rest in our bathroom.”
The owls the Sullivans bring into their home for rehabilitation live in the spare bathroom and are hand-fed during their stay. These two siblings hang out in the shower as they recuperate. The test for returning to the wild is twofold: be able to fly and be able to catch mice.
A couple of hours later, the family found an owl abandoned on the patio.
“We roomed the owls together, and they turned out to be siblings,” Tarrie said. “A mother owl would stop by the window to drop off mice and feed her babies. Eventually, they were nursed back to health and set free.”
Just a couple of weeks ago, another owl fell down their chimney. The family cleaned up the owl, which was kept overnight and set free in the morning.
“We thought that maybe this was an owl we’ve nursed before because the owl was not scared of us,” Tarrie said. “And yes, we are getting our chimney screen fixed very soon.”
Not only do the Sullivans dedicate their time to taking care of these vulnerable animals, but they also make sure to keep others in the community posted.
“During the height of the stay-at-home restrictions, we made sure to keep the community updated on the status of these owls on Facebook,” Tarrie said. “The community members loved hearing about them.”
Tarrie relates releasing the owls to sending off her children to college.
“It’s incredible to see them leave in all their glory,” she said. “It’s hard to let go, but they’re wild animals — and at least my bathroom won’t smell as bad anymore.”