SNN (ScrollingNetworkNews) ✿ ✿ Our Mel and Sydney returned to their nesting box with plenty of bonding occurring..but after 2.5 months of Sydney in the box from Dec 2013 to mid Feb 2014, the lack of prey gifts from Mel ( perhaps due to the severe and historic drought underway in California)and they have forgone the nesting process this year as many other raptors ✿ Compared to other owls of similar size, the Barn Owl has a much higher metabolic rate, requiring relatively more food. Pound for pound, Barn Owls consume more rodents – often regarded as pests by humans – than possibly any other creature. ✿ We remind viewers that sometimes owlets may not survive - the parents will dispose of things in "The Owl Way" -viewer discretion is advised, this is nature and the "Owl way". ✿ ~ ✿ “Animals, like us, are living souls. They are not things. They are not objects. Neither are they human. Yet they mourn. They love. They dance. They suffer. They know the peaks and chasms of being.” ― Gary Kowalski, The Souls of Animals ✿ Each species is a masterpiece, a creation assembled with extreme care and genius." ~ E.O. Wilson

Saturday, September 24, 2011

Owls called to eradicate rats-


Marin County - SF Bay Area 
A troublesome rat infestation near the Marin Civic Center may be thwarted by forces from above — county agencies and local nonprofit groups installed a series of owl boxes last weekend.“Rats have become an increasing problem at the Civic Center,” Hulme wrote in a press statement. “We are not using poisons on county property to control rats, and trapping alone has not fully addressed the problem. Owls are an important part of the environmental web when it comes to managing rodents and sustaining a healthy, toxic-free environment.”
Often, other raptors such as hawks help get rid of rats and field mice, but they tend to steer clear of areas populated by people. Owls, on the other hand, are less concerned with their human neighbors.
Volunteers from WildCare’s Hungry Owl Project, working alongside Marin County Parks, gathered on Sept. 3 to put the boxes in place in various spots near the county’s headquarters. The project is part of the county’s Integrated Pest Management Program.



                                                        Mel & Syd make the KTVU news
The Hungry Owl Project has stated its opposition to the use of chemicals in eradicating rodents.

Started in 2001, the Hungry Owl Project is a program of WildCare, a Marin nonprofit education and wildlife rehabilitation center.

Read the full article:
http://www.marinscope.com/articles/2011/09/21/news_pointer/news/doc4e7a469f6ce0b305126604.txt