South Huntington School Workers Free Owl Trapped in Netting

Two workers at Walt Whitman High School recently freed an owl that had gotten tangled in a net at Walt Whitman High School.

Who were the helpers? Blaise Addeo and Brian Faller, who came across the owl in November, its claws stuck in a baseball net.

While Addeo covered part of the owl with a blanket, Faller untangled the claws. They carefully freed each leg one at a time.

As they untangled the claws, they spoke to the owl in hopes of keeping it calm and building trust.Faller said the bird was exhausted from struggling to get free didn’t try to fight or attack them.

Kevin O’Shaughnessy, head of grounds for the school district, said the owl was a reminder about securing equipment so it can’t harm animals.

“One of the things I hope to get out of this is to educate the public a little bit,” he said. “The reason being is that there is that netting…that’s the baseball backstop for practice, and they should roll and tie that thing up because that’s what happens. My hope is that people will see this video and realize that there is all kinds of wildlife out there and what we do in our lives can affect nature.”

Deer and other wildlife have occasionally been trapped by nets at other open spaces such as football and soccer fields.

We are grateful to our hardworking grounds crew for “always going above and beyond what needs to be done,” O’Shaughnessy added.

 

Owl Video

South Huntington school district video and photo.

 

Leave a Reply