Warning, an image included in this article may cause distress
13:54, 30 Sep 2026Updated 13:56, 30 Sep 2026
Theresa, whose part of her job it is to make smudge fans – a ceremonial hand-held tool made of feathers, leather, and wood – took the owl back to her home to give the owl a proper send off.
She said: “I basically bought it home because I wanted to give it some love and some prayers and I made a little bed with some ferns and some rose petals.”(Image: Thersea Field)
A Penryn resident was left angry and distressed after an owl was found dead, hanging from its feet near a cricket club in Cornwall.
A local resident, Theresa Field, was called by a friend on Friday (September 25) who spotted the bird while on a dog walk. She said she was incredibly distressed after seeing the saddening sight.
Theresa and her husband pulled the owl from the net, who said its foot was completely twisted and its wings were all entangled.
Warning, an image included below is graphic and may cause distress.
Theresa said: “It would have been a slow death because it wasn’t strangled, for example, it was caught around its feet. It wouldn’t have been a quick death.
“I saw that actually it was quite decomposed. There were a lot of maggots in it. So it obviously had been hanging there for quite a while. At least a couple of weeks, I would have thought, I’m surprised it didn’t get seen previously, to be honest.
“I was just really angry about that initially.”
The netting the tawny owl was stuck in was suspended over a footpath outside of Penryn St Gluvias Cricket Club.
CornwallLive understands the netting’s purpose is to protect members of the public walking on the footpath, who could be at risk of being hit by cricket balls from the field.
Despite understanding its importance, Theresa questioned if the welfare of animals has been fully considered.
Dead owl cut from netting at Penryn Cricket Club(Image: Thersea Field)
She said: “The club told me they had already put boards in place at the bottom of the nets to lift them up, so that hedgehogs and land animals could get under.
“So they were aware and thinking about nature, but obviously more land things than flying things.”
Theresa, whose part of her job it is to make smudge fans – a ceremonial hand-held tool made of feathers, leather, and wood – took the owl back to her home to give the owl a proper send off.
She said: “I basically bought it home because I wanted to give it some love and some prayers and I made a little bed with some ferns and some rose petals.”
CornwallLive understands Penryn St Gluvias Cricket Club takes the incident very seriously and will be seeking advice from relevant environmental consultants regarding how the netting is managed in the future.
It is also understood the matter is due to be discussed formally at the club’s management committee meeting on Monday (October 5), following which the club intends to issue an official statement.
The netting has reportedly been taken down, due to it being the end of the cricket season.
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