A barn owl tangled in nylon kite string between two tall oak trees in Anderson was saved recently by a raptor care specialist hoisted into the air by a PG&E bucket truck.

PG&E received a call shortly after 8 a.m. on Feb. 4 from the California Department of Fish & Game. Due to the proximity of power lines, state Fish & Game officials were asking for PG&E’s help in reaching the owl, said PG&E spokesman Paul Moreno.

The nocturnal hunter had apparently tangled itself sometime during the night and was dangling by one wing about 60 to 70 feet in the air above the 20000 block of Whispering Water Lane, Moreno said.

PG&E crews brought in a bucket truck with a 97-foot reach and lifted Daryl Chase of Shasta Wildlife Rescue & Rehabilitation and a PG&E worker into the air. Because the power lines were a safe distance away from the owl, PG&E did not have to shut off power to the circuit.

Chase said the nylon kite string was wrapped around the fully-grown male owl’s wing tip a few times, but no flesh was damaged.

“The string was wrapped around several of the owl’s primary flight feathers, but after a couple days worth of groceries and some rest, he recovered and was released Thursday, Feb. 7, in the same general area where he was found,” Chase said.

The nylon kite string, however, was removed as part of the rescue effort, the wildlife rescue expert said.

Birds, especially raptors, flying into wires and getting caught in them is “somewhat of a rare occurrence,” Chance said.

“Several years ago, we did have an ospray that was hung up on some string caught in a pine tree, but I can’t remember any other similar problems,” he added.