« November 2023 | Main | January 2024 »
If you see leaves in the opening of your owl box, remove them -- but first, whack the owl box with a broomstick (while standing off to the side) to evict any furry lodgers.
Repeat as necessary, until the squirrel gives up. Owls won't nest there if a squirrel has taken up residence.
For more advice, buy The Screech Owl Companion (It includes plans by my co-author Scott Weston for a squirrel-resistant owlbox).
Yesterday, I wrote about a family that discovered a "baby owl" that supposedly had been hiding in their Christmas tree for four days after they brought the tree home.
One look at a photo of the "baby owl" told me that it was no baby. It was an adult screech owl, and it was hard to believe that it had stayed in the tree for four days after the tree had been cut down, transported and decorated.
I figured that this was improbable at best, even if a Saw-whet Owl had stowed away on the Rockefeller Center tree a few years back, unless...
I contacted an expert at the International Owl Center, Karla Bloem, who had a possible solution.
It's what I call the Santa Claus scenario.
"Perhaps they assumed the owl came in with the Christmas tree due to the Rockefeller Center story, and it actually came down the chimney and into the house through a fireplace," she wrote in an email. "That’s a more likely scenario. We’ve seen that many times."
In my latest book, The Screech Owl Companion, I suggest that people with screech owls nesting nearby be sure to put a protective cap on their chimney for this very reason.
The question is, Do the folks who found the owl on their Christmas tree have an open chimney?
Maybe Santa might call his next reindeer "Screecher."
A friend sent me an Associated Press story with the headline "Kentucky Family Finds Baby Owl In Christmas Tree."
The story said:
One Kentucky family got a little something extra when they picked out their Christmas tree this year: a baby owl.
Lexington resident Michele White told WDKY-TV that it's a tradition for the family to pick out a Christmas tree every year and this year seemed no different. They had the tree in their home for four days and didn't notice anything unusual.
“I have three dogs,” White said. “We use this room nonstop: watch TV; the kitchen’s right here; no indication.”
Bobby Hayes, who owns Magic Carpet Cleaning and was at the home while the family was out, first noticed the bird after plugging in a piece of equipment and seeing the tree start to sway.
“The owl was literally sitting on a lower limb here,” Hayes said.
“It crawled up into the tree further,” Hayes said. “It took me several minutes to even find it.”
He sent photos to White, who said she was glad he was there to deal with the animal. Hayes said he was able to safely release the owl in the family's backyard.
“Everybody’s going to be able to have a merry Christmas now,” Hayes said.
Not to sound skeptical, but the owl sure looked like a fully grown screech owl, and there's no way it would have been inside a house for four days without being noticed. Just sayin'.
The International Owl Center writes:
If you have a screech-owl box or want to put one up, YOU NEED THIS BOOK.
It is basically a how-to guide, with answers to every question you might ever ask, plus waaaaaay more.
You'll find box designs, placement advice, setups that will allow you to lower the box instead of climbing a ladder to check the box, different camera setups for observing and streaming them, what to do about squirrels and wasps, how to make your yard screech-owl friendly, what to expect from your owls, cultural views of owls and much, much more.
The authors together have decades of experience with screech-owl boxes, plus they included information from others with extensive experience. It is a reference guide you'll use over and over again. There should be a book like this for every species for which you can build a nest box.
Thanks, International Owl Center!