When Tom Fike and his wife, Carol, heard noises in their chimney in mid-September, they assumed it was just one of the small chimney swifts that have often made their homes in the 12-inch space.
But some of the noises, especially the thumping, seemed a bit different.
“I said ‘Something ain’t right,’” Fike said.
So he got onto the roof to take a peek at what was causing the ruckus.
“There were two big gold eyes looking up at me.”
The eyes belonged to a great horned owl, which Fike estimated had been in the chimney for a couple of weeks. The raptors, when fully grown, are about two feet in length and weigh about three pounds.
Unsure of how to deal with the bird, Fike called the Blue Ridge Animal Hospital in Bedford, which put him in touch with Gwenn Johnston, a wildlife rehabilitator who works at the hospital.
On Sept. 25, Johnston said, she took a trip to the Fikes’ house, in the Bunker Hill area south of Bedford, and peered down the chimney for herself.
“It is forever burned in my brain, staring down a 20-foot chimney at the giant, yellow, beautiful eyes blinking up,” Johnston said.
Unsure of how to rescue the owl, which couldn’t make its own way back up the chimney, Johnston said she spent a restless night coming up with a plan.
The next day, Johnston, along with John Briscoe, of Thaxton-based Black Goose Chimney Sweep, put her plan into action.
Johnston positioned herself on the roof, Briscoe at the fireplace. He used one of his brushes to push the bird within reach of Johnston’s catchpole.
“He at least had some spunk left in him after being up there for two weeks,” she said, adding she didn’t even take pictures of the bird because she wasn’t sure he would survive.
He was badly emaciated and dehydrated, Johnston said, so she took him to her house for a few days to nourish him before taking him to the Wildlife Center of Virginia in Waynesboro, where she said he’s been recovering very well.
The wildlife center’s website Friday listed the owl as a “candidate for release.”
“Your heart just goes out to these animals,” said Johnston, who is president of the Wildlife Care Alliance, a wildlife rescue organization based in Bedford.
“I’m very excited about the prospect of getting him back,” she said, noting that the owl would be released to its old habitat once it fully recovers.
As for the bird, he won’t have to worry about finding his way into the Fikes’ chimney again. Fike said they’re going to have a chimney cap installed.
“About the only thing that will get through this will be bees,” he said.
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