EAST DURHAM – Employees at an East Durham antique store had to look twice when they saw something extremely lifelike on a shelf next to a chicken cookie jar.
State Encon Officer Milliron took a closer look and noticed it was a sleepy Eastern Screech Owl perched on the shelf. He cradled the sleeping bird to remove it from the store and released it into the woods, where it flew to a nearby tree. That species of owl is nocturnal and typically nests in tree cavities, not store shelves, the State DEC noted…