This article about owlets being rescued from a chimney made it to the national news! It's in Finnish, but here's a quick google translation.
Tl,dr: two owlets were stuck in a mansion's chimney in Tervakoski, Finland. They were rescued after a 24-hour operation and both were in good health, although very hungry.
The rescue operation lasted a day in Janakkala, Kanta-Häme, when two barn owl chicks were trapped in the labyrinthine chimney of the Tervakoski manor.
Locals visiting the old manor were eating dinner on Thursday when a strange creaking sound started coming from a nearby chimney. Someone recognized the voice as an owl.
The rescue service that was alerted for help arrived at the manor, but the means ran out. The complaint about the flue noise continued overnight.
The owls have had to climb more often than usual this spring, because they have suffered from a shortage of nests . In April, the rescue service had to rescue two pairs of owls that got lost in the wrong place within a week in Päijät-Hämee.
Two sooty baby owls roost at the bottom of the chimney.
The next day, the message went to Annulii Koponen, a wild animal manager from Riihimäki. Koponen called for help and got in touch with Piia Raunio, who rings birds.
When Raunio arrived on Friday, the task seemed impossible.
- The chimney of the old mansion is slightly L-shaped, and it turned out to be extremely deep.
Scars or other aids were of no use, because only a small hole led to the chimney.
- When we got a better picture with the flashlight, there were indeed two baby owls there, and they both screamed, Raunio says.
Manor owner: the owls must be saved The chirping and screeching of the little owls was heartbreaking, Raunio describes.
It seemed that the only way to get the birds out was to dismantle the chimneys.
The rescuers called Inga Chaudhary, the owner of the Tervakoski mansion. She made a decision: the chimney must be dismantled and the owls saved.
- It didn't even occur to me to leave them there. The chimney can be repaired, says Chaudhary.
A handyman arrived and started work. It was quickly revealed that the chimneys of the old manor had two walls that had to be passed through.
Handyman made an owl-like opening in the chimney. Rescuing the exhausted chicks began to look possible.
The helpers glued the butterfly swatter to the telescope arm and lifted both owls to safety. The video shows the moment when one of the owls gets to safety.
- There is no way they would have gotten out of there on their own. It felt really good when we got both of them out of there, says Piia Raunio.
Back to nature The animals' torment lasted at least a day. After the ordeal, the birds were in surprisingly good shape, albeit hungry.
- The wings functioned normally, and there were no bruises, Raunio says.
How did the owls practicing the life of a bird of prey end up in the chimneys of the old mansion?
The chicks weighed about 300 grams. So young chicks don't fly properly yet.
- However, the manor's chimney is relatively high. Only the little owls know how they got there.
One possibility is that there was a nesting place for owls in the chimney, from which the fledglings fell into the chimney.
The little owls were returned to the wild that same evening.
According to Rauni, nets will be installed in the chimneys of the Tervakoski mansion, so that owls or other animals do not get stuck in the mazes of the old building in the future.
When I was younger I was offered a gig to help disassemble an abandoned cottage by hand. Turns out it had burned from the inside when a fire had spread from the fireplace - somebody had went inside to try and keep warm in the winter and ended up burning themselves and the cottage. What adds some spice to the story is the fact that in the past the cottage was a "troll's hut" funfair kinda thing where kids, myself included, went to meet the "forest troll" and do some drawing etc.
Had nightmares about it for quite a while.