From Redding Record Searchlight

Brave man saves great horned owl stuck in sewage at wastewater plant near Cottonwood

The day after Christmas, Billy Schatz waded into knee-deep poop to save an animal’s life. And he didn’t even flinch.

The wastewater treatment worker spotted an almost-unrecognizable great horned owl, stuck in the muck in a drying pool of waste sludge in Cottonwood, part of the Rio Alto Water District wastewater management plant.

Schatz scooped up the limp weak bird, gave him a bath with special animal-friendly soap and hoped for the best. To his surprise, the owl now known as Archimedes survived.

Rio Alto Water District wastewater management plant worker Billy Schatz waded into knee-deep sewage to rescue ‘Archimedes’ on Dec. 26, 2024. The great horned owl was stuck in a drying bed at plant in Cottonwood. Schatz turned the owl over to Shasta Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation in Anderson for medical care until his release on Jan. 8, 2025. But the owl was still too weak to fly away, so Schatz texted a photo of the hapless bird to his friend, Raven Capozzo.

Birds can get stuck and die in the waste drying pools, said Capozzo, who is the general manager at Shasta Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation in Anderson. The drying bed looks like solid ground, so birds try to land on it.

“We’ve pulled other birds out of there before, (but) this is our first raptor,” said Schatz.

The sewage has to be in full sun year-round and can’t be covered to keep the animals like Archimedes from landing on it, he said. Archimedes “was probably hunting something that could run across the top of the drying bed” when he got stuck,” according to Schatz.

Capozzo took the bird to the wildlife rescue’s center, in Anderson River Park, for medical care. She also gave him another bath.

Then another bath.

By the third ablution, Archimedes had regained some of his strength and became the “strong and spicy” fellow he likely was before his ordeal, Capozzo said.

Shasta Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation workers in Anderson care for ‘Archimedes’. Wastewater treatment worker Billy Schatz waded into knee-deep sewage to rescue the great horned owl, stuck in a drying bed on Dec. 26, 2024, at the Rio Alto Water District wastewater treatment plant in Cottonwood. By the time she was blow drying him off, the indignant owl was giving her the stink eye. “They’re much more aggressive when they’re healthy,” Capozzo said, laughing.

Archimedes remained in the wildlife rescue’s care until last Friday, Jan. 8. Capozzo released the healthy owl near the treatment plant, in his usual hunting grounds.

“It felt super good seeing him fly away," said Schatz, who added wading into feces is “what any decent person should do, helping an animal in need.”

Archimedes was lucky. He was strong and well fed to begin with. “He just got stuck in a bad situation, literally,” Capozzo said.

When asked how old she thought the owl was, Capozzo said, “Hoo knows?”