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Shoppers in upstate New York found a live owl resting on a shelf inside an antique store, prompting a response from the state Department of Environmental Conservation, the agency said Friday. The department said the incident happened Feb. 21 in the hamlet of East Durham, about 127 miles (204 kilometers) north of Manhattan.
The department said customers at The Market Place noticed the owl while browsing in the store and alerted staff after spotting what it described as “something extremely lifelike” on one of the shelves. Officers later arrived after the store alerted the state.
Environmental conservation police officers, the department said, found a brown-and-white owl perched on a shelf with its eyes firmly shut. The agency said officers then gently cradled the bird in order to remove it from the store.
The owl, the department said, was an eastern screech owl. The agency said the species is nocturnal and typically nests in tree cavities, which contrasted with the bird’s presence in the retail shop.
After the removal, the department said officers released the owl into a wooded area nearby. It then flew into a nearby tree, the agency said.
The department said it was not immediately clear how the bird got inside the store. An email was sent to the store’s owners on Friday, according to the department.