My owl box

[cx]

That little guy looks mostly fledged, Davy. Aughta be gettin' his fluffy little butt kicked off the ledge any day now.

[Bugman]

Thanks for the update.

[Davy]

Well, the owls showed up for two years and it looks as though the squirrels may have scared them off this year. Usually they show up around the first part of March and they haven't showed up yet. The squirrels took over the owl shack and so I have evicted them with the help from my pellet gun. They weren't wasted, went into the frying pan.

I knew my Mercrete roof wouldn't last forever without some type of cover over it, it did last 4 or 5 years. The squirrels liked to lay out on top of it in the sun and chew on it. I'm going to replace it with a piece of Wedi board with slate over it. Also, you can see how they have chewed the walls on the inside of the box. I doubt the owls did that, maybe a little.

[tileguynky]

Perhaps the odd ball weather is throwing their migration patterns off a little.

[Davy]

Maybe so, I cleared the squirrels out and added a slate roof today and I'll get it back up on the pole tomorrow. We will see if the owls show up.

[cx]

That's interesting, Davy. One of the property owners where I installed a handful of those owl boxes same year you made yours had axed me just this very day if owls would help keep squirrels away. I tole her yes.

Now I'll hafta modify that to a qualified maybe, eh?

But I'm thinkin' those squirrels wouldn't be hanging around that box at all if your owl had come back this year. Well, not of their own accord, anyway. Might have been a young squirrel or two visit that next in years past and likely got hisownself airlifted up there at no charge.

[Davy]

Kelly, back on page 1, post 4, I told about a squirrel that went inside the box and found the owl inside. The squirrel made a fast exit, actually landing on top of my shed roof 8 - 10 ft below.

I don't know much about them but I do know there has been a lot of action lately around the box with at least 3 baby squirrels plus mama. I figured maybe the squirrels put up a fight or maybe it wasn't worth the fight and mama owl found a new home. We will see if she shows up.

[Davy]

A new slate roof, a few vent holes and a perch should draw new renters. I also show how I made the pole. I have two flat plates welded to the pole that are hinged together. Once I raise the pole upright I have 4 bolts to hold the two plates together.

[John Bridge]

I'm curious about the design of the box itself. The owl or squirrel goes in then goes down to the bottom to nest. Is that reminiscent of life in the wild?

[cx]

Pretty close, John.

Different owls like different kinds of places, but those boxes are directed toward the Screech owl in particular. Which, by the way, don't need no wimpy-ass perch outside the front door.

But the squirrel will be happy there, too. Well, so long as the owl isn't trying to be happy there at the same time, of course.

[Davy]

John, I made it similar to the shacks on www.owlshack.com .

[davem]

At least you got to use that chainsaw to fetch that perch off the tree in the picher on the right.

[Davy]

Yeah, I had to remove several small branches to get the pole to lower down. It's all back up now.

[Davy]

Just an update, after a couple years without any owls, they showed back up. I assume there are two, I've only seen one that hangs around during the day. He/ she stands in the doorway, eyes closed soaking up the sun. Nothing seems to scare her off, mowing the grass weed eating or even shooting squirrels with my pellet gun. She sits there like she owns the place.

This is kinda early though, not sure what that's all about. Usually they don't show up till Feb or March. My wife does have a chicken coop with about 10 chickens. I guess for the owls it kinda like living next door to a KFC.

[HS345]

What, no pitchers?

What's with the new avatar? You dabbling in stained glass? Looks pretty kewl.