Experts called out in Leeds to rescue 'huge rare owl' as pictures show it perched on Pudsey fence

Laura Rhodes became troubled when she heard the hoots of the bird of prey while staying at her partner’s home on The Glade in Stanningley last week.

She said she visited on Friday (September 8), saying: “I got there and he said ‘remember the other day when you said you could hear an owl? Well it’s here’.

"I’ve never seen one so big. It was huge.”

Laura said that there was “definitely something wrong” with the bird, which she has since discovered was an eagle owl. She was able to approach it while it perched on the eight-foot high fence and get pictures, which she then posted on a community Facebook page.

She saw that the owl had a tag on it with a name on, so she realised it must have escaped from somewhere.

After seeking help from various wildlife groups she called the Whitby Wildlife Sanctuary on the Yorkshire Coast and was asked to send pictures of the owl.

Laura said: “He spoke to his supervisor and called me back to say that they would come and get it as a priority.”Sadly though, she said that despite staying by the owl and waiting for them to come, it flew away just 20 minutes before they completed the hour-and-a-half journey to Leeds.

Laura said that the team still spent a few hours in the area working and looking for the eagle owl using a thermal camera.

Laura then placed an update on her Facebook post and received a response from someone saying that it was in her garden, just a couple of streets away.

The team from Whitby Wildlife Sanctuary then came again on the Saturday and spent hours “trying to coax it out of a tree”.

The team were able to get to the creature and told Laura that they “suspected it was severely dehydrated”. They are now trying to locate the animal’s owner.

Laura said: “It’s definitely a rare site to see one in your garden in Pudsey.

"Fortunately there was a happy ending because we didn’t want anything to happen to the poor thing.”