October 7, 2008
- Pasco, Washington
Baby Owls Lose Hay Bale Homes
By Rudabeh Shahbazi
BENTON CITY-- Barn owls nest in hay bales. It's normally a warm, safe place to tuck their little babies.
But now is the time farmers start moving those hay bales, and the baby owls lose their homes. There is no shelter for birds in the Tri-Cities, so one Benton City woman is taking matters into her own hands. "It's still OK to move their nests, as long as you give them some place else they can be," said Michele Caron, who rescues the owls and shelters them in a hut on her property until they can live on their own. She began the operation four years ago, when she started working with Blue Mountain Wildlife in Oregon, shuttling the birds she rescued to the rehabilitation center in Pendleton. Every year since, she and a few other volunteers have rescued about 50 owl babies a year. "We realized we had a baby problem, barn owl babies, so we set up the hack boxes," she said. The boxes are made of wood, and secured in tree branches or near hay bales. She makes them herself. If the owls make a nest in the boxes, their families can still stay together after farmers move the bales. She says, if farmers just look for the owls, that's enough. "If the farmers inspected the stacks before they moved them, we'd be happy to hack them out," she said. Caron has taken in almost a dozen owl babies this year alone. She feeds them until they are strong enough to go up in the boxes, where they live until they can start to fly and hunt. When they do, she says, they are a huge help to farms and vineyards. "They're absolutely incredible creatures, and for farmers, they're extremely advantageous for rodent control," said Caron. "So there is a practical benefit to them too." They're so practical, the average nest of five babies and their parents, will eat 30,000 rodents in the five weeks they are growing up at home. However, their mother is really the only one who should be feeding them. That's why Caron throws their food in from behind, out of their view. "Lots of people help, they try to feed them themselves, but without knowing the proper diet, a lot of harm can be done," said Caron. Caron will put some of the baby owls in a hack box next week. She plans to put a tiny video camera in the box with them, and pod-cast their growth and development live. That way, she can learn more about their feeding habits and lives. There will be an auction to help benefit the little owls at All Saints Episcopal Church in Richland this weekend. |
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