BIG BEAR, Calif. (AP) — With a major wildfire burning near his mountain town east of Los Angeles, Cowboy the barn owl was unaware of the danger and instead having the adventure of a lifetime.
Perched in the front seat of a truck, Cowboy — along with nearly 50 other animals — was being evacuated Sept. 12 from the Big Bear Alpine Zoo in the face of the advancing Line Fire, which blazed through more than 60 square miles (155 square kilometers) of the San Bernardino National Forest.
“He just had the greatest time,” said Mike Barnes, Director of Animal Care and Health at the Living Desert Zoo and Garden in Palm Springs, where Cowboy was being taken. “They said he was probably going to be a handful on the ride down and he was the biggest sweetheart.”
In less than 48 hours, two-thirds of the zoo’s animals had been safety evacuated. About a week later on Thursday, Cowboy and the other animals returned home.
“They just had…