Rescued owl makes miraculous recovery after being shot with BB gun, trapped in manure pit

A Great Horned Owl is on the mend in Pennsylvania after sustaining an eye injury from a BB gun.

Last month, the Raven Ridge Wildlife Center shared in a Facebook post that they had taken in the bird after a State Game Warden discovered it “stuck in a manure pit for at least two days,” where it was “severely dehydrated” and “weak.”

Now, in a statement shared with PEOPLE, Tracie A. Young, a Wildlife Rehabilitator at the establishment, said the owl was “shot” with a BB gun, which she noted “is a federal offense.”

“We had to wait for the blood in the eye to be absorbed by the body, so that we could see if there was any permanent damage,” she detailed. “Over the next few days, the body started absorbing the blood in the eye. We administered fluids, the owl had to be tube-fed and given several baths.”

Noting that she was later able to examine the bird’s eye, Young added, “I noticed thick pus forming, and I carefully removed it with tweezers so that I could examine what the mass was. Amazingly, the owl’s body encased a steel BB.”

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After removing the bullet from within the owl’s eye, Young said she and her team continued to give it fluids and antibiotics, and put it on a “healthy diet,” which she said allowed it to start “eating on his own.”

Young also told PEOPLE in her statement that a vet confirmed “there was no permanent eye damage or loss of vision.”

“This was great news!” she continued, adding: “I did not think that it was going to make it.”

Young also said in her statement that the owl has since been moved to an outdoor flight mew, where she and her team will monitor its flight, perching, grooming and ability to catch prey, all of which she said are “necessary functions for survival.”

“Our goal is to release the owl by fall,” Young said.