TAFT, Calif. -- Phyllis Rountree made a hoot of a surprising discovery in her front yard early this morning: an injured wild owl.

"It was really surprising, we didn't know what to do," she says. "Normally we don't see them in the morning, we see them at night."

But not even Rountree could have expected the headache she would have to get treatment for the injured barn owl.

"I think the county should help our animals of all kinds," she says. "All animals, kit foxes, owls, everything."

As a resident of South Taft, which is in the county's jurisdiction, that's where she started by calling the county animal control department.

But their policy is to avoid picking up wild animals, including barn owls, which are a federally protected species.

Instead, they recommended calling the California Living Museum and CSUB's Facility for Animal Care and Treatment, but neither entity could pick up the owl, although they could offer it treatment.

Driving to Bakersfield was not an option for Rountree because she had to care for her sick husband, who was recently afflicted by a double stroke.

By 3 p.m. Monday, the Department of Fish and Game came to take the owl for treatment, but even their response time was considerably slower due to state-mandated furloughs.

"It's been a busy day for some of us that are still on today and we've got more things than we can keep up with," Bill Asserson, a wildlife manager with the department, said.

Rountree's dilemma raises an issue that is increasingly common in the unincorporated community of South Taft, where other residents will normally provide an address in Taft's city limits to elicit a quicker response from the city's animal control department.

The city department says it would have picked up the owl if it was in the city's limits, but is not allowed to pick up critters in unincorporated neighborhoods in the city's periphery.

That leaves the matter of wild animals in unincorporated Kern County to the Department of Fish and Game.

"This time of year, we get quite a few calls about small young animals that are falling out of nests or are injured somehow," Asserson said.

Asserson took the owl to the Bakersfield Veterinary Hospital, and said if it needed further treatment, it would be taken to FACT at Cal State Bakersfield.

He recommends that residents in unincorporated areas of Kern County who find a wild animal on their property in any state call Fish and Game's hotline. The number is (559) 243-4005.