Two men who claimed to be drunk and high filmed themselves driving and shouting with a wounded owl in their car . Johnny Duverson and his cousin , who has not been named , filmed themselves waving a bottle and driving round the streets of West Palm Beach , Florida , with a Great Horned Owl in the front seat . Duverson 's cousin holds the wide-eyed bird , which is protected by federal law , in the crook of his arm while Duverson whoops and cheers . Unexpected passenger : A video emerged showing the owl - which experts think is dazed - being held in the front seat of a car driving down a Florida highway . 'Drunk and high ' : This bottle - seemingly of alcohol - is waved around during the footage , which was uploaded to Facebook and shared thousands of times . At one point in the video , which was uploaded to Facebook and shared thousands of times , a voice is heard shouting : 'We chillin ' with a owl [ sic ] right now , we vibin '' Alongside the video , Duverson wrote : '3am in the morning , we are drunk , we are high , we bout to take this thing home and eat it up just found it on the road . ' Video : Johnny Duverson , pictured above , was in the car and posted the footage on his Facebook page . In a later post he said the bird was 'dancing ' and 'acting crazy ' during their 10-mile journey down the I-95 highway , which ended at Lake Worth . Wildlife experts were horrified at the video , and pointed out that possessing an owl in any capacity is a breach of federal wildlife laws . David Hitzig of the Busch Wildlife Sanctuary in Jupiter , Florida , said the owl looked as if it was dazed in the video . Speaking to the WPTV local news station , he said : 'To me the concern is : where is the owl now , what 's happened to the owl , did anybody cause harm to the owl ? ' Duverson later said the owl was already hurt when they found it . When confronted by WPTV , he said : 'It did n't fly away so we knew it was hurt . Leave me alone . ' He also seemed to row back on claims of the group being drunk and high whilst driving - though he did not offer an alternative explanation . DailyMail.com has attempted to contact Duverson . The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation has also launched an investigation . Protected : Great Horned Owls - and any other type of owl - are protected by federal law , and can not be owned .
Johnny Duverson and his cousin filmed themselves driving with the bird . Had Great Horned Owl in front seat of car in Florida , West Palm Beach . Claim the bird was already hurt when they found it and drove it ten miles . Wildlife authorities are investigating video .