Mystery death

I got a call yesterday from a friend who had received a call about a dead owl in a tree in Powell. As it was almost dark I decided to wait until today because it would probably require climbing to get the body.

My super friend, Nathan, came along as he's young and agile and could probably scamper up the tree with ease. When we got to the house it was apparent that climbing was out of the question. The bird was on a small limb without any others nearby to stand on.

Luckily the home owner had a long handled branch saw and another piece of PVC pipe we taped on it to extend the reach. Nathan got on top of the garage and managed to push the owls body off the branch.

At this time I have no idea what would cause the 7-8 month old GHO to end up there. He is in excellent condition, there are no wounds that I can see and his feathers are perfect. I am sending him off to our state lab for testing. Hopefully they can find a reason for this beautiful bird to die.

UPDATE: The test results are in, this bird died of herpes. Not the kind humans get, this is avian herpes.