A group of Texans enjoying a summer barbecue stumbled upon a surprise guest, and came up with a surprising way to save it. Per a Facebook post, the Wild West Wildlife Rehabilitation Center based in Amarillo said it got a call from the Adlong family earlier this month, reporting a possible orphaned barn owl, and so the center advised them to place the animal in a box to keep it safe until staffers could get there. However, the Adlongs didn't have a box, and so they "had to get creative," per the Guardian.
"I wrapped my little bird in [a] warm tortilla and swaddled him up," Katie Adlong, 36, says, noting she was afraid the bird was getting too cold and so had a tortilla thrown on the grill. "That's all I had." When workers from the center arrived, they discovered it wasn't a baby barn owl the Adlongs had found, but a Mississippi kite, a hawklike bird that doesn't typically grow bigger than 14 inches, per Texas Monthly. The rehabbers were also impressed with the tortilla move, with the center noting that "undoubtedly, it was an inventive method to keep the baby warm, and surprisingly, it was effective."
The bird, since nicknamed Taquito ("little taco"), was brought back to the rehab center, which said in an update that the bird would stay there for about two more months, dining on insects and frozen mice—not tortillas. Meanwhile, the center is also holding a fundraiser to provide for Taquito during its stay, including selling swag that boasts "Tortillas Save Lives," complete with a graphic of Taquito wrapped snugly in its DIY rescue pouch. (More uplifting news stories.)
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