By Tim Binnall
Animal rescue workers in England got quite the surprise when they stumbled upon an owl that initially appeared to be injured, but was actually just too fat to fly. The chunky creature was discovered in a ditch earlier this month by the Suffolk Owl Sanctuary, who shared the animal's strange story on their Facebook page. Explaining that they first assumed that the bird had become grounded due to some kind of mishap or perhaps from water on its wings, upon closer examination they realized that it was in a rather unique predicament.
According to the group, the bird weighed approximately a half-pound which is "roughly a third heavier than a large healthy female little owl" and, as such, "fatty deposits" had left the animal Earth-bound. Curious about what could have caused this condition, the sanctuary examined the creature for any signs that it could have escaped from an aviary, but that did not seem to be the case. Subsequent observation of the owl over the course of a few weeks at their sanctuary appeared to provide some answers as to how it had put on the weight.
When the owl, dubbed 'Plump,' eschewed traditional food found in aviaries in favor of dark mice, which are found in the while, the group marveled that "this may just be an unusual case of natural obesity." Their suspicions were seemingly confirmed when they returned to where the animal had been rescued and discovered that it was "crawling with field mice and voles." Fortunately, Plump quickly lost its excess weight after being put on a diet by workers at the sanctuary and was able to take to the skies once again when it was released back into the wild this week.