Owls made homeless by Storm Darragh tree fall

Karl Perry's son helps him train the birds at their home in Wolverhampton

A Wolverhampton bird keeper says he is devastated after a fir tree collapsed onto his aviaries leaving his owls homeless.

Karl Perry from Oxley said Storm Darragh brought down the 50ft (15m) tree onto six aviaries in his back garden on Saturday evening.

He managed to reach all of his 24 owls and said none were injured, but they were now either living in small travel boxes in his van or in his house.

Mr Perry, who does displays and school visits, said he hoped people could help him cut up and remove the tree so he can begin rebuilding their home.

He said he heard a knock on his front door at about 17:00 GMT on Saturday and noticed someone "being a bit frantic" outside, who told him a fir tree had fallen down behind his house.

"I ran into my son's bedroom at the back and had a look and there was a 50-foot fir tree right across my aviaries," he said.

He managed to get under the tree and lever the doors back to reach the birds and get them out.

The tree fell during Storm Darragh on Saturday

"One was stuck underneath the tree and was being squashed by the tree, but I managed to get her out as well," he said.

"She's a bit stressed out still."

The tree damaged six out of 17 aviaries when it fell "completely on top of them".

"I am absolutely devastated," he added.

"I've spent 13 years putting all this together.

"I do fetes, carnivals and school visits.. it brings a lot of enjoyment to a lot of people, but for me it's just a hobby - it's not a job it's a hobby.

"Every single penny we earn goes back into the birds some way or another."

He said between eight and 10 birds were now having to live in their travel boxes in his van, with others in his house.

"I'm having to feed them in the house and clean them which is giving me no time to get into the garden to sort the garden out," he added.

"I need them back in the aviaries as soon as possible."

The tree, which he said belonged to a neighbour, has since been cut down.

Work will begin to clear his land and repair aviaries on Saturday.

"We're looking for as much help as possible to get this tree cut up in the garden and get it out so we can start building."

He added: "We will get back up and running, it's just how log it's going to take."