Two employees at the Palo Verde Generating Station, operated by Arizona Public Service (APS), recently rescued a barn owl that had become trapped in netting at the facility. The incident occurred during a routine inspection when Vernon Bounds noticed the bird struggling to free itself.
Palo Verde uses pest deterrent netting to protect its equipment from wildlife. On this occasion, however, an owl became entangled while flying near the infrastructure. After discovering the situation, Vernon called for assistance from his colleague Cindy Tuma. Together, they freed the owl by carefully cutting away the netting and placed it in a box lined with a towel to recover.
“I looked up and noticed the owl was struggling to fly away. We were there at the right place and the right time to help bring this beautiful bird down!” Vernon said.
The APS team coordinated with Liberty Wildlife, a nonprofit organization focused on rescuing and rehabilitating injured animals. After one week of care, Liberty Wildlife determined that the owl was healthy enough to be released back into its natural environment.
With support from APS’s natural resources team, Cindy and Vernon participated in releasing the owl—named “Valor”—back into the wild at sunset. “The adrenaline, the joy – it’s a moment I’ll never forget,” said Cindy. “Being part of helping this bird fly home meant everything to me.”
Arizona Public Service supplies electricity as a regulated utility company across much of Arizona, including rural and urban areas as well as border towns (official website). The company delivers power to about 1.4 million customers throughout its service territory (official website). In addition to providing electricity, APS offers related services such as outage support and customer billing assistance programs (official website).
