HOPKINTON When a large barred owl struck the windshield of an oncoming car on a snowy Sunday night earlier this month, the quick intervention that followed might have been a matter of life or death, said Dr. Maureen Murray, the veterinarian who treated him when he arrived at Tufts Wildlife Clinic in Grafton that night.
On Tuesday afternoon, 23 days later, that same owl named “Dalen” by the Upton man who rescued him was released back into the wild at Whitehall State Park.
And this time, it was even snowier.
On Jan. 3, Clifford Kistner was driving his truck along Hopkinton Road near the Hopkinton-Upton line when he saw something fly from the woods and strike the car in front of him. After approaching the injured owl, flopping around and flapping its wings, Kistner wrapped the bird up with his jacket and notified a nearby Westborough police officer.