Owls Enjoy Rabbits |
| A recent PBS broadcast showed a mid-west farmer who had an expensive
problem. Controlling rats and mice in his fields cost him tens of
thousands of dollars annually for pesticides. He remembered that owls which used to live in old barns locally ate a lot of rats and mice. However, there were no more barns around. He began building "bird" houses for the owls in the middle of his fields. The first thirty were very quickly filled. He built one hundred more pens. They stayed 100% occupied by owls and their chicks. He says one owl eats about 1200 rats or mice annually. For the cost of the owl pens, he has been able to discontinue using pesticides with huge financial savings as well as greatly benefiting the environment. Could this be an inexpensive solution to our rabbit over-population? Micki Nichka |
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Strip away man's misconceptions about owls
and you'll find that they remain truly fascinating creatures. During the past
100 years, scientist have revealed them as the useful creatures they truly are. Their hearing is so good that they can hear a mouse squeak up to 1/2 mile away. Owls have large, fixed eyes. If our eyes were the same proportions as an owl, our eyes would be the size of grapefruits. Their eyes are 100 times more sensitive to light than human eyes. Owls serve an important role in controlling the numbers of several animals, including mice, rats and rabbits. Killing is rapid and the prey is usually carried back to the owl's perch, where it is devoured. Owls are highly territorial and often live in the same area for many years. Unfortunately, their populations are decreasing due to loss of habitat and nesting sites. As conservationist, we can install owl boxes like the mid-west farmer and help to reduce the rabbit population through nature's help at a fraction of our current pest control costs. --------------------------------------------------- Owl nesting boxes are shown in the pictures on the left. The girl in the lower picture who is installing a nesting box is Kellie Piper, a volunteer for The Barn Owl Center. A typical nest box is about 24 inches long, 16 inches deep and 16 inches high. The entrance is 6 inches by 6 inches. [top]
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