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VALPARAISO — While the arctic’s most well-known resident — the one who brings toys — makes his appearance in Northwest Indiana in just a few weeks, another arctic resident already has arrived.

Snowy owls — as fluffy and white as Santa’s beard — are being sighted across the area, and one is making its temporary home in rehabilitation at Humane Indiana Wildlife Center, formerly known as Moraine Ridge Wildlife Rehabilitation Center, in rural Valparaiso.

A female snowy owl was brought to the rehab center Dec. 1 after it was clipped by a semi truck at ArcelorMittal in Burns Harbor.

Although the bird suffered no broken limbs, it was treated for shock and is underweight, said Stephanie Kadletz, the center’s director.

While the female owl is doing well and gaining weight, a second bird rescued Dec. 3 in Hanna, Indiana, was too emaciated to survive and died Tuesday, Kadletz said.

“We think by the time we got it, its body had already started to shut down,” she said.

In the arctic, snowy owls feast primarily on lemmings, which are the size of a large hamster, Kadletz said.