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WHO'S counting? Census collected for Cape's Burrowing Owls

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CAPE CORAL, Fla. — All Saturday morning, The Cape Coral Friends of Wildlife conducted a census on the city's burrowing owl population to see how many live in the area.

Around 150 volunteers with Cape Coral Friends of Wildlife slowly drove on every street in the city to get a head count of all the burrowing owls.

They say to conserve this threatened species that loves Cape Coral so much it's important to keep track of them.

They counted for juveniles and adults, number of burrows and different eye colors.

Last year, the census recorded up to 4,000 owls. They expect to see a close number to that again.

Janet Windsich led some of the volunteers during the census.

She says it's important to protect the species.

"People come to Florida because of the wildlife and because of nature and they love being outside, and the owls are part of that. They have found Cape Coral to be a great place to live and thrive, so we want encourage that," Windisch said.

If you see a borrow without stakes to protect it from damage, reach out to Cape Coral Friends of Wildlife for help.