Georgia Family Finds Owl in Christmas Tree

Like that scene from "National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation" when the Griswold family discover a squirrel inside their Christmas tree, quite recently a Georgia family found a wild animal nestled among their Christmas tree’s branches. 

As reported in the Athens Banner-Herald, over a week after they bought their tree, they discovered a live owl living inside.

Katie McBride Newman said that she and her 10-year-old daughter saw the bird on Dec. 12. They had bought the 10-foot tall tree from a nearby Home Depot, brought it back to their Atlanta area home and decorated it with lights and even owl ornaments.

“It was surreal, but we weren’t really freaked out about it,” McBride Newman said. “We’re really outdoorsy people. We love the wilderness.”

The family opened their windows and doors near the tree in hopes the owl would fly away, but it didn’t.

“The owl seemed to be pretty comfortable, and I thought, ‘Hey buddy, it’s not going to go well if you just stay here. There’s no food, I’m sorry,’” said McBride Newman’s husband, Billy Newman.

So the family called The Chattahoochee Nature Center, a nonprofit nature center, for help. They caught the bird and helped the family release it.

McBride Newman said she believed the bird had been in the tree since they bought it, but was hidden.

“We think he was just in there hugging the trunk,” she said. “It’s a very dense tree and it was very fresh. That’s why we picked it.”

Call Pachuta Insurance Today @ 706-769-2262