A MAGICAL thing happened on the night of October 3. I got a call from a neighbour that there was an owl outside her door. It had not moved for a couple of hours and she thought it might be injured. Could I help? I had absolutely no idea what to do…so I thought for a bit and figured: maybe if I take a sheet and try and put it over the owl, I might be able to pick it up, take it out from the stairwell and see what happens.
I called a couple of people to see if they had advice and could send a rescue team if required. Bahar Dutt, who is the go-to person in Delhi for snakes, responded almost immediately, while I was walking to the neighbour’s. She warned me that I might actually hurt the owl’s wings using the sheet, and also that owls can bite quite hard, so I should watch out! Get gloves, she suggested.