A special Christmas visitor at an Arlington home last week is causing quite a hoot on social media.
In Santa-like fashion, a barred owl welcomed itself into Savannah and Jason Burgoyne’s Donaldson Run home through the chimney on Wednesday night. To the delight of the couple’s daughters, it proceeded to perch atop their Christmas tree, knocking over the star.
The feathered friend was eventually rescued and released into the wild by Sgt. Spencer Murray from the Animal Welfare League of Arlington.
“You don’t get to often see nature, like truly wild nature, that up close — so it was a really lovely experience for our family, and also just totally fun,” Savannah Burgoyne told ARLnow.
The owl’s journey has captivated many this past week. The story was featured on the Today Show this morning (Monday), and social media posts about the event have since been viewed over a million times.
“Best Christmas tree topper ever!” one commenter wrote on the AWLA’s Facebook.
“He’s beautiful. So magical and so serene,” said another.
While the bird is now gone, the holiday magic is still happening at the Burgoyne house, where AWLA staff returned today with owl gifts for the kids and a giant owl tree topper, Savannah Burgoyne said.
“They’re genuinely lovely, and they do great work over there,” she said.
Although this story had a happy ending, the AWLA has some reminders to prevent injuries to people and wildlife this time of year. Installing a chimney cap, for instance, is a good preventative measure.
“We always recommend at the beginning of winter, or ideally a little bit before winter, [to] make sure you don’t have any holes in your space, in your roof or in your home where wildlife could get in,” AWLA spokesperson Chelsea Jones said.
Jones said she’s happy to see so many people taking an interest in the story.
“We are loving how much love our owl friend is getting,” she said. “It’s just making people happy around Christmastime, which is great. I know for us, our Sgt. [Spencer Murray] said that this is one of the best cases he’s ever responded to.”
If local residents ever find themselves in a similar situation, the AWLA’s animal control team is reachable at (703) 931-9241.
