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Title : First Rescue, First Blood

Title : First Rescue, First Blood

Being his first rescue, Braeden Holle being a Soarin' Hawk volunteer, did not really know what to expect hearing previous stories. He thought he was going to rescue a Barred Owl, but instead it turned out to be a Great Horned Owl, too his surprise. The Owl appeared to be alright and alert, he used wire cutters to cut the net off from around the owl. The moment when everything was going as planned the owl wanted to say thank you and goodbye, and gave Braeden a nice laceration on the thumb, going right through his gloves and into his finger; Braeden was fine with that. Giving the owl a quick check up: looking over the wings for broken or fractured bones, eyes to check for injury, talons (which seemed to be working fine in Braeden's opinion), and giving him a healthy keel score, he determined the owl was ready to be released. The family thanked him for what he did, even calling him a professional, which Braeden thought was very kind of them. He let the owl go and they all watched as it flew across the field and out of sight. Another day, another rescue, another happy bird, and another passionate volunteer.