Sleepy owl found resting among items on a New York antique store shelf

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DURHAM, N.Y. (AP) — Shoppers in upstate New York earlier this month turned up a rare find while perusing a local antique store this month: tucked next to a cookie jar made in the shape of a chicken was a live owl resting peacefully on a shelf.

The state Department of Environmental Conservation said Friday that the incident happened on Feb. 21 in the hamlet of East Durham, about 127 miles (204 kilometers) north of Manhattan.

The agency said customers at The Market Place had spotted “something extremely lifelike” on one of the shelves and alerted store staff.

Environmental conservation police officers arrived to find a brown-and-white owl perched on a shelf with its eyes firmly shut.

The department said officers gently cradled the sleeping owl to remove it from the store, and then released it into a wooded area, where it flew into a nearby tree.

The bird, an eastern screech owl, is nocturnal and typically nests in tree cavities.

It is not immediately clear how it got inside the store. An email was sent to the store's owners on Friday.