A kindhearted Florida resident shared the extreme lengths she went to help a family of burrowing owls whose home was damaged by a storm.
Wendy Hockenberry, 34, from Southwest Florida, built a rapport with the birds, who she noticed living across the street from her last year.
Having seen the owls leave following Hurricane Milton in 2024, Wendy was delighted when they returned and chose her yard as their new home.
The birds initially took up residence in a section of water drainage, before moving into a burrow nearby.
But then, when another storm hit on May 12, 2025, Wendy was worried that the owls would leave again, and so she wanted to do everything to save their flooded home.
The torrential downpours filled the burrow with water, washing out three owlets and their family, and so Wendy took a video of the displaced owls and posted it on TikTok, asking for help.
In a follow-up video, Wendy could be seen taking one commenter’s advice, putting a cardboard box nearby and filling it with blankets.
Then, in another, with the owls waiting across the street, Wendy took a shop vacuum to suck the water from the owl’s burrow.
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Wendy was initially terrified that her efforts had not attracted the owls back, and she was worried they might be hit by a car if they wandered around the neighborhood.
But then, to her delight, the very next day, with their home dried out, the owls and their baby owlets returned to Wendy’s yard.
She said: “Although it’s been a very dry spring in Southwest Florida, we were suddenly hit with a day of torrential downpours.
“Their burrow flooded, and the family—including the three owlets—was washed out.
“I recorded a video that day, asking how I could help, since owls are a protected species here.
“In the chaos, the family ended up displaced, huddled under the overhang of a neighbor’s garage.
“The internet quickly responded with advice—put out a nesting box, plastic containers, anything that might help.
“I tried, but nothing seemed to work, and their burrow remained completely full of water.
“Desperate, I grabbed my shop vac and removed the water from the drainage pipes, allowing everything to flow properly again.
“I was heartbroken, as despite my efforts, the owls didn’t return right away.
“They wandered the neighborhood, and I was terrified one might get hit by a car.
“But then, the next day, once everything had dried out, they came back to my yard.
“The family returned.”
