Tracy hotel workers save injured burrowing owl, a species whose numbers are on decline in state

Two Holiday Inn Express employees' devotion to wildlife saved a burrowing owl early Saturday morning.

It all started when maintenance worker Jorgen Sorensen walked through the hotel's North Tracy Boulevard parking lot at the start of his overnight shift and spotted an owl perched on the gate to the pool.

"I walked all the way up to it without it moving," Sorensen said.

"Obviously, there was something wrong with it, so I decided to do something about it."

Sorensen and front desk clerk Richard Durand gently coaxed the owl, which stood about 8 inches tall, into a box filled with plush towels.

"It seemed very content being in the box," Sorensen said. "It didn't complain or anything."

Sorensen, a longtime friend of animals, has saved many a wounded bird. He said he used to spot burrowing owls often in Tracy, but now he rarely sees them. He knew to immediately contact an animal rescue organization, instead of attempting to treat it himself.

"I thought, we've got to get help for it so it can have a second chance," he said.

Sorensen and Durand sat down and searched the Internet for local animal rescue teams. The only person who answered their 3 a.m. call was Iris Delgado with Sacramento Wildlife Care.

Delgado admits she answered the phone thinking, "Do you have any idea what time it is?"

Then, she added, "I couldn't go back to sleep when I heard it was a burrowing owl."

Delgado then drove to Tracy, picked up the owl and delivered it to the Bird and Pet Clinic of Roseville. Veterinarians said the owl had suffered head trauma but has survived the week.

"They're a prairie-oriented owl, and the more you take up the land, the less area they have to live in," Delgado said.

"He would not have made it through the weekend if it wasn't for those employees."

Contact reporter Danielle MacMurchy at danielle@tracypress.com.

First published: Friday, January 26, 2007