Man dubbed a 'walking green flag' for stopping car to rescue injured owl stuck on barbed wire fence

Protecting animals in the wilderness is extremely important to ensure their survival and maintain biodiversity. We can support a healthy wildlife population and, of course, promote peaceful coexistence between humans and animals by safeguarding them. Similarly, the commitment to protecting wildlife was witnessed when Mike Loughran (@fishlikemike on Instagram), who, upon seeing an injured owl stuck on a barbed wire fence, immediately stopped his car midway to rescue it. 

In the now-viral Instagram clip, initially, the owl cried in pain as Loughran tried to free it from the wire. "I know, I am trying to help you," he said, assuring the bird. Finally, the man slowly untangled the owl from the wire fence. "I free him. Look at that. He is free," Loughran said, putting the bird on the ground and checking if it could fly. However, when the man saw the owl struggling to fly because of an open wound on its wing, he took the bird to a nearby Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) for recovery. Loughran wrapped the owl in a cloth and gently placed it on the car's passenger seat, ensuring its comfort and safety.

The man described the one-hour journey to SPCA as an unforgettable road trip. "Always keep your eyes out for wildlife in need!" read the overlay text as Loughran shared a glimpse of successfully reaching the animal rescue center. Reflecting on the incident, the man encouraged others to help animals whenever possible. He wrote, "Most of the time they will be fine without human intervention but in times like this, it is much needed," in the caption. Additionally, Loughran revealed that the injured owl could have been stuck on that fence for at least 6-10 hours. "Lots of people must have driven by without seeing it or thinking it was already dead. I always check and this is a perfect example of why," he added. 

Meanwhile, reacting to the reel, @alex wrote, "So happy to finally find some good content next to all those gender/race wars. I think I am going to watch your video a couple of hundred times so the algorithm will show more stuff like this. Keep up the good work!" @hagraven commented, "Men helping animals for no other reason than respect for nature is THE MOST DESIRABLE TRAIT." @tonytnally commented, "This is so awesome, Mike! The way he looked at you when you saved him!" @rachel_lefaye commented, "Oh my goodness! Sending lots of healing vibes to the beautiful Callieach Oidhche. Thank god you stopped and helped!" @aaron wrote, "Bless your soul, sir! The poor thing looking at you and falling asleep in your truck was cute as f***."

On the other hand, @oriondresden seemed a little concerned and wrote, "Oh God! I hope that you made sure this owl was actually safe and didn't just hand him over to some vets. My friend found a hawk that was in relatively good condition with a bit of an injured leg. He was rehabbing it at his house, and we were feeding it. It was amazing. The wildlife place told us to take it to this vet, and they killed it immediately." @louielouie commented, "Ladies I can confirm with confidence, this guy is a walking green flag." @zacharykuttas wrote, "As soon as it was in the passenger seat, it looked so ready to rest for a while. Take an attaboy out of the jar for your work."

You can follow Mike Loughran(@fishlikemike) on Instagram for more animal-related content.