Photo: wildaboutbritain.co.uk
Every creature has its place in nature—I firmly believe that. But if that creature is a rodent, I want its place to be nowhere near my home.
We live in an area surrounded by farmland, so mice, voles, gophers and other critters come with the territory. Recently, I’ve been researching ways to curb the rodent population in our immediate environs, and one solution keeps on popping up in my search: barn owls.
Barn owls have an insatiable appetite for rodents. A pair of barn owls and their brood can eat as many as 3,000 rodents in a single nesting season. That’s a LOT of mice! Farmers, especially those who practice organic farming, have been using barn owls as part of an integrated pest management system for years.
Barn owls are cavity dwellers and are happy to nest in almost any snug and quiet spot, be it the crook of a tree, the rafter of a barn, or a manmade box on a pole. So long as the food supply is ample, barn owls are not too territorial and may even nest in colonies.
Photo: barnowlbox.com
You can buy a barn owl nesting box or build one of your own. Here are some things to remember if are interested in attracting barn owls to your property:
• To be attractive to the birds, owl boxes should be placed at least ten feet off the ground. But don’t place the boxes so high that they become difficult to maintain.
• Be careful not to startle parent owls during the incubation period. If a mother owl is frightened away from her nest before the eggs hatch, she may not return. Once the baby owls hatch, however, parent owls will return to feed their young, regardless.
• Barn owls are wild animals and a protected species. Although providing nesting sites for them is perfectly legal, you must be licensed if you want to handle or keep them. Contact the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for information and restrictions.
• Debris in owl nest boxes can be infected with hantavirus, a potentially deadly rodent-borne disease. Take precautions such as using rubber gloves and dust masks when performing maintenance or cleanup.
Barn owls that come to roost on your property bring benefits other than rodent control. For one thing, barn owls are fascinating creatures to watch. Of course, they are nocturnal, so observing their habits requires some late evenings and night-vision goggles.
As an alternative, you can buy a nesting box with a closed-circuit camera. Then you can just turn on the webcam, sit back, and enjoy the show!
5 Things to Do with… Tin Cans
Tin cans are like air—they’re all around us. Most families go through several cans each week, and some even use that many day in, day out. Instead of recycling every single one of those cans, put a few aside for some quick and easy DIY projects.
1. MAKE PLANTERS
Photo: designmisc.blogspot.com
Transform yesterday’s can of diced tomatoes into a colorful planter or vase—all you need to get the job done is spray paint. Use your creation to brighten a windowsill or to delight a friend, neighbor, or hostess with a gift from your garden. Really want to perk things up? Add stripes, polka dots, or stars!
2. CREATE LANTERNS
Photo: thegrnblog.wordpress.com
Add some evening ambiance to your outdoor living area. These lanterns come together in no time: Just use a hammer and nail to punch holes in the cans, then paint their outsides in a pleasing pastel. (Or skip the paint; it’s your choice.) Once you’ve added wire handles and tea lights, get ready to light up the night.
3. ORGANIZE CRAFTS SUPPLIES
Photo: bhg.com
You can easily convert tin cans into charming storage containers by wrapping the cylinders with pretty paper. Punch a hole in the back of each decorated can, making it so they can all be hung via S-hooks onto pegboard. It’s a stylish and practical way to organize nuts and bolts, paintbrushes and colored pencils.
4. CONSTRUCT A BIRD FEEDER
Photo: plumadorable.com
Your kids would have a great time making this simple bird feeder. All you need is a dowel, a glue gun, some colorful paint, and a ribbon or string for hanging—oh, and birdseed! Hang the feeder in your favorite tree and sit back to watch the show.
5. BUILD A WINE RACK
Photo: recyclart.org
Tin cans and glue: It doesn’t get much more basic. Combine those two ingredients with spray paint, and you’ve suddenly got a DIY wine rack, plus another reason to buy wine!
For more on repurposing, consider:
5 Things to Do with… Old Tires
13 Easy Ways to Repurpose Antique Armoires
5 Upcycled Pot Racks & Cookware Storage Ideas
Heirloom Apples: Growing a Slice of History
Pennsylvania Backyard Fruit Growers Annual Tasting. Photo: veggiegardeningtips.com
Shopping at the grocery store, one can usually find only eight or ten varieties of apples. That selection represents an infinitesimal fraction of the estimated 15,000 varieties that have been grown in North America.
You’ve probably never heard of a Northern Spy, Sheepnose, or Virginia Beauty apple. At one time, these and many more types of apples were cultivated and enjoyed in their respective regions. But they gradually lost ground to more productive, visually appealing varieties that better withstood transport and storage.
Today, these so-called “heirloom” apples are staging a comeback, and our taste buds are reaping the benefits. Many heirlooms have rich, sweet, and complex flavors unmatched by varieties more commonly found.
Related: 8 Disease-Resistant Apple Tree Varieties
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- Protect Yourself and Your Family with a CO Detector
Protect Yourself and Your Family with a CO Detector
Kidde Nighthawk DC Carbon Monoxide Alarm
Carbon monoxide (CO) is the number one cause of poisoning deaths in the U.S. A colorless and odorless gas, CO is a byproduct of combustion. That’s why you should never use a charcoal grill in the shed, or leave the car running in the garage. That’s also why it’s so important to properly vent fuel-burning major appliances like furnaces, water heaters, clothes dryers, ovens and ranges. If you’re in the market for a carbon monoxide detector, the two most important feature options to weigh in your decision are power source and display.
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- A Second Home for Sod: Top Tips for Transplanting
A Second Home for Sod: Top Tips for Transplanting
A sod cutting machine, rentable by the day, makes quick work of transplanting. Photo: Flickr / jcelene
It’s been about 18 months since we moved into our house, but only recently have we begun to landscape beyond the basic builder’s package. A designer helped us formulate a plan that we intend to roll out in stages over the next several years. This spring, we initiated phase one: creating more strategically placed planting beds. That meant removing sod—a LOT of sod.
Sod is expensive to install and, surprisingly, expensive to remove. Even if you rent a sod cutting machine, the work is still labor-intensive and time-consuming. Not to mention that once you have the sod lifted, it must be hauled away and dumped somewhere—at a price, of course.
Related: Artificial Turf: 7 Reasons to Consider the New “Grass” Alternative
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- Save the Bees, Save Yourself: The Anti-Allergy Virtues of Local Honey
Save the Bees, Save Yourself: The Anti-Allergy Virtues of Local Honey
Photo: localhoneyblog.com
Do you suffer from seasonal allergies? A natural remedy waits in your backyard: locally produced honey.
To date, science has not yet proved a link between eating local honey and allergy symptom relief. But there’s no shortage of anecdotal evidence from allergy sufferers. Their testimonials suggest it may be worth your while to experiment with a local honey regimen of two teaspoons per day.
Related: 20 Ways to Go Green Today
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Be Dark Sky-Compliant When Lighting Up the Night
Photo: mckaylighting.com
Warmer weather encourages us to spend more time on the deck, porch, or patio. Of course, lighting can extend outdoor living well into the evening, but before you light up the night, consider the advocations of The International Dark Sky Association, a campaign to reduce light pollution.
Related: 10 “Illuminating” Ideas for Lighting Up Your Backyard
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How To: Make a Butterfly Garden
Photo: blumengardens.com
Butterflies are mesmerizing creatures with more to offer than beauty alone. Because they are nectar eaters, they are great pollinators, and their larvae provide food for birds and other wildlife.
Related: 10 New Perennials to Perk Up Your Garden
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- How To: Plant a Tree (or 10!) for National Arbor Day
How To: Plant a Tree (or 10!) for National Arbor Day
Photo: cedarlandforestresources.com
The Arbor Day Foundation was founded in 1972 with a mission toward conservation and education. It’s the largest nonprofit membership organization dedicated to planting trees—they planted over 8.7 million trees last year alone!
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- So, Who Are Master Gardeners and What Can They Do for You?
So, Who Are Master Gardeners and What Can They Do for You?
Photo: gardeningescapes.com
If you live on a property with a lawn or garden, you should be aware of Master Gardeners.
In 1972, the first Master Gardener program started in Washington State, after the growing suburban population had inundated the Washington State University Cooperative Extension with requests for horticultural information. A group of volunteers was trained to help; the idea took hold; and there are now Master Gardener programs in all 50 states.
Slideshow: 10 New Perennials to Perk Up Your Garden
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