How can owls be a sustainable solution to pest control?
In an attempt to find a sustainable way to control pests on campus, Shawnigan installed owl nesting boxes this fall. The hope is to have a pair — or more — of barred owls make their home on campus and provide some organic rodent regulation on campus. Patricia Hanbidge, Shawnigan’s Environmental Lead and Horticulturalist, explains more here.
Finding sustainable ways to address perennial problems is a challenge all of us face. Our school grounds support life in many forms; in addition to the hundreds of students, teachers and the staff that works hard behind the scenes to keep our campus running, we also support many other creatures both big and small. Some of these other critters are wonderful to have around, but some are less desirable – especially when they come indoors uninvited!
The critters that we do not like to have in our indoor spaces are the rodents: mice, voles and even rats. Lucky for us, there are many predators that are happy to add these same critters to their regular diets.
This fall, our maintenance department approached me with an opportunity to try a different and more sustainable approach to controlling rodents on campus – barred owls. As we become more environmentally aware, we feel that any more natural and less costly approach to an ongoing challenge is always a win, so it was an easy decision to move forward with this project.
The next step was to invite Deanna Pfeifer, who is a local advocate for the protection of owls, and her partner Rob Vanzella, who constructs owl nesting boxes, to visit the campus and give us some direction on utilizing their unique approach to supplement our current rodent control methods. This approach utilizes the placing of barred owl nesting boxes in suitable habitat, thus increasing the possibility of enticing more of these owls to call our campus their home. Barred owls prefer to use the same area in subsequent years to mate and nest.
A pair of barred owl nesting boxes were installed on campus in mid-September. We are hopeful that we have chosen prime locations to place these nesting boxes and that the owls will choose our nesting boxes to rear their young. It is interesting that barred owls are one of the most commonly sighted owls on Vancouver Island and they are less shy around humans. These numerous sightings could be due to higher numbers of these owls, or they could be due to the fact that these owls are opportunistic hunters and will often hunt before dark.
Owl courtship happens in late February and into March, so let’s hope we see them choose these beautiful owl boxes as their choice nesting location. If we do entice the owls to use our nesting boxes, we would like to install cameras so everyone in the Shawnigan community can view, enjoy and learn from these magical birds of prey. Watch for more owl updates, and together we will learn the best way for both the owls and all of us to share this amazing environment.
Please click here for more about Shawnigan’s environmental initiatives and experiential learning programs.
Patricia Hanbidge is Shawnigan Lake School's Environmental Lead and Horticulturalist. She has worked extensively around the world, helping people develop food sovereignty, enhance food security, and build more sustainable communities.
We acknowledge with respect the Coast Salish Peoples on whose traditional lands and waterways we live, learn and play. We are grateful for the opportunity to share in this beautiful region, and we aspire to healthy and respectful relationships with those who have lived on and cared for these lands for millennia.
Shawnigan Lake School is an independent co-educational boarding school for ages 13 –18 on Canada’s beautiful West Coast. Our diverse, interdisciplinary and innovative programming helps shape the next generation of global leaders.
