Andrea Stetson

Special to The News-Press

A tree service was trimming a palm tree in the Pelican Ridge community of North Naples when two tiny balls of gray fluff fell to the ground.

The trimmers didn’t notice a tiny screech owl nest hidden in a crevice among the boots of the palm right under the shady fronds. It’s a common problem this time of year as both birds and small mammals nest in backyard and front yard trees, bushes, lawns and undergrowth.

Someone in a nearby home found the two tiny owls,which were smaller than a fist and covered in gray fluff, and called the Conservancy of Southwest Florida. With the nesting area demolished, the Conservancy put up an artificial nest box on the same tree and placed one of the baby owls inside. The other owl was taken to the Conservancy to be cared for.

“One baby came to the Conservancy because of the trauma from the fall,” said Joanna Fitzgerald, director of the von Arx Wildlife Center at the Conservancy. “It seemed to have increased respiration. It could be because of pain. In pain they don’t breathe easily. It was tilted to one side. It was not able to sit upright and was not as responsive.”

The tiny two-week-old owl spent four days at the Conservancy. It was given anti-inflammatory and pain medication and responded well to that treatment plan. This week, the tiny owl was returned to the artificial nest box where the owl parents are now caring for it.

While this story had a happy ending, Fitzgerald says it is not always this easy and there are a lot of things homeowners and tree trimmers can do this time of year to prevent more of these problems.

“Typically they are cavity nesters,” Fitzgerald said about screech owls. “But we do get them a lot from palm trees. The parents are able to make do with the cavity up top where the fuzzy material is. We do get them from palm trees quite often.”

Tim Thompson, a volunteer with the Conservancy, does a lot of the renesting.

“This is the third one out of a palm tree this year,” he said.

Fitzgerald says it often happens from both a tree service and from individual homeowners.

“It’s harder if they do have a tree service,” she said. “Most of the businesses are busy and are trying to get their business done for the day.”

The Conservancy tries to educate tree care workers and individuals about what to look for before trimming a tree.

Fawn run over by tractor mower on mend at Conservancy

“They need to be looking for nesting material,” Fitzgerald explained. “You need to be looking for that type of structure first before you go in with a chain saw. If you see the same squirrel going to the same tree day after day it might be a mom. The same with birds, you will see them fly in the same trees; if they are songbirds you will hear them peeping all the time.”

Even dead trees need to be examined before chopping. Screech owls will nest in cavities made by woodpeckers there.

“Check the nest hole before you chop the tree down,” Fitzgerald said. “Avoid that while the babies are growing. It can be tricky to relocate the nest. Sometimes the parents won’t follow the nest, especially if they are just born and have not bonded. Active bird nests are all protected under the migratory bird treaty act. It is a federal law with U.S. Fish and Wildlife. It is illegal to be moving these nests without permission.”

Fitzgerald said most songbirds fledge within a month. Screech owls take two months, one month in the egg and another month after hatching. Fitzgerald hopes that with these short times people will just wait before trimming or chopping a tree with an active nest.

If a creature does fall from the nest, Fitzgerald asks people to call them.

“If they just put it on the side of the road, the baby will be dead,” she explained. “The parents can’t move their babies. Maybe from Disney or movies people think the parents can come down and move their babies. They don’t really do that.”

They also won’t care for their babies if they are on the ground. Instead, the little creatures on the ground become food for cats, dogs, raccoons, coyotes and many other animals.

“If you find an animal on the ground and you think it needs help, call us or text us and we can know if the baby is too young to be out of the nest,” Fitzgerald said. “Get them on a low tree branch or a scrub. It is hard for the average person to tell, but now with cell phones everyone can take pictures.”

Fitzgerald said workers at the wildlife center can usually tell from a photo whether the baby animal needs help, so sending a photo is usually the best start.

Wildlife officials say besides birds that fall from the nest, there will be ones that are just learning to fly. She has some tips for that too.

If it is healthy, get them in a low tree branch or a bush.

Keep cats and dogs monitored.

Don’t let cats roam this time of year.

Teach kids not to touch and pick up baby birds. They are not something to pick up at the bus stop and hand to 10 other friends.

Call the Conservancy and send a photo

This is also baby season for many local mammals. The Conservancy is now seeing many possums, raccoons and rabbits.

If a possum is found dead on the side of the road, it might have live babies in its pocket.

“If the mom is dead and the babies are alive bring them all in,” she said.

For raccoons, Fitzgerald warns people not to touch them without wearing hand protection. If a raccoon bites a person it must be euthanized to check for rabies.

Rabbits lay their nests everywhere from flower beds, to the base of a tree, to the middle of a grassy yard. Mother rabbits do not stay with their young. Instead they come and feed them only once or twice in the middle of the night. Fitzgerald wants people to understand that seeing baby rabbits without a parent does not mean they are abandoned. Here are some things that Fitzgerald said to look for.

The mother will line the nest with fur.

There will be a tiny depression with that soft fur lining.

She will put a little natural vegetation over it.

The chances of a person ever seeing a rabbit at a nest is next to nothing.

People think they can take them in and take care of them and they can’t. Cow’s milk and the milk from a pet store is not suitable for wildlife.

Fitzgerald hopes that education will prevent creatures like the little screech owl from being harmed. The baby owl is now snug in its nest with both parents taking care of him and his sibling. Tim Thompson climbed a ladder and placed the baby in the artificial box. The parent immediately covered up its baby to protect it while the other parent watched from above.

“This job is done,” Thompson said.