So I had an interesting day yesterday. :)
Story to follow...
Look what we found in our attic!
Holy hootowls, Dion!! Is that baby OK? Looks like they made a home in fiberglass, not the best of nesting material. Can't wait to hear this story. Please give us a heads up if it's cheery or sad?
As I have mentioned before, we just bought a newly built house. We knew that we had an owl using our roof as a place to search for prey and to eat as we could hear her landing on the roof. Well, Friday night we heard some screeching and it sounded like it was coming out of a vent in our bedroom wall. At first we thought it was an injured animal that somehow got into our ceiling, but as it continued, we realized that it was a chick of some sort.
So the next day we were going to go up an investigate, and as a coincidence, our builder showed up to fix something about the same time, so we went up on the roof and discovered that he had forgotten to put screens on all the vents on the roof!!! And we could tell by the location of the noise where the owl had gotten into our ceiling and made a nice little cozy nest.
Obviously we had to do something, the smell was not pleasant. So our builder went and got a big dog crate and after removing the vent cover, we pulled out a good portion of the insulation (including lots of dead things and owl poop) that the owl was nesting in and put it in the dog crate, but we couldn't reach the owls, who had gone as far back as they could and we couldn't reach them. Finally, after much discussion, we ended up having to cut a hole in our roof to get to the owls. (My b/f was NOT happy.) However, we finally got the babies out (momma flew away) and put them in the new nesting box and left it on the roof near the vent that she was previously using to enter the roof. We heard her on the roof later that evening, so we are pretty sure that she has found the babies and is taking care of them again. Everybody was reunited (or so we thought).
As I was getting ready for bed, I walked into the bedroom, only to hear the same screeching from the night before. (ACK! We missed one!) I'm thinking that my b/f is going to kill me if we have to open up the roof again. Fortunately for me, it was coming from just above one of our recessed lights in the same area as the nest and we were able to pull the 3rd baby owl out from inside via the light fixture hole and put him up on the roof with his siblings. So we now have an owl and 3 chicks on our roof instead of IN our roof.
I don't think they like us very much though. I am going to go check on them a bit later today, when it cools off a bit and make sure the momma is taking care of them.
Yeah I questioned using the insulation for their new home, but the top layer is so coated with "stuff" that is isn't even scratchy and I was considering throwing some shreaded newspaper in with them later today. I feel bad about evicting them, but there were dead rats and some nasty things up there and it was starting to smell. I am going to keep an eye on them over the next several days and make sure they are ok.
Wow dionosaur,
this has been very interesting - I can hardly wait for your next post. I loved the picture too!
Jackie
Well we could tell the owl was living there from all the mess, but we weren't sure which direction they were, so I stuck my camera down the hole and took a picture both directions to see if we could see them. Here is the picture, if you look closely, you can seem them huddled in the very back right corner.
It looks like you can see a rodent carcass in the right middle of the picture. And to think that I've had to pay for owl poop and you got it for free!
LOL, you mean I should have kept it??? What is it good for? Hmmmm most of it is still in the trash, should I pull it out?????
Dion :)
We used it in biology class for students to unroll the 'pellets' (the owls swallow the whole thing if the animal is small, then they barf up the skin and bones in a little compressed pellet). I also keep a little case with stuff like that in for students who don't want to do a research project on the subjects I have provided.
LOL, ok I thought maybe it was good fertilizer or something. :)
Dion :)
That is a great story! Think of all the rats and mice that owl has kept from getting into your house and other houses in the neighborhood. You may want to build an owl box, for barn owls will live with you (as you know from experience) and are great natural rodent control. Here is a link with some information on either building or buying a barn owl nest box. You could put it up in a tree if you have one, or even fasten it on the side of your house. Giving these beautiful birds a place to live and breed (not inside of your attic!) will help keep the natural balance in your neighborhood.
Susie
http://www.owlpages.com/links.php?cat=Owls-Nest+Boxes
Hey Susie,
that's a great post - thanks, I may try and have my students build some owl boxes.
Susie,
That is a great link, thank you. I think in the future, we will definitely look into it, as I am all for natural pest control. That is the reason we never bothered the owl before, we were happy to hear her on our roof keeping away rats, etc. We just didn't realize she was living IN it.
Dion :)
Update: Well I just went up on the roof and checked on the little ones, neither of the parents were there, but they still looked active and well fed, but I could only see 2 of them, it looks like the third one that we pulled out of the light fixture wasn't there. So now I am wondering if there was something wrong with that one and the parents had separated it from the other chicks, and that is why we didn't find it earlier. Do owls do that?
Dion
Wow! What a story, that last picture is soo prescious. I sure hope they are all OK, I'm going to be waiting for updates so don't forget to check back in with us!
I am trying to contact an owl rescue person to find out if we should pull out the insulation and put in something else for nesting material.
Dion :)
Birdlady Susie is an expert, and can tell you who to call. D-mail her! Unless she chimes in here first! She was quite instrumental in saving a baby hawk who's nest was blown down here at our house!
Wild at Heart is a great place, they are the ones that took the baby hawk that Brenda found.
31840 N. 45th St.
Cave Creek, AZ 85331
Contact: Sam Fox (Director)
Phone: (480) 595-5047
Also Liberty Wildlife is a good organization.
http://www.libertywildlife.org/
wildlife related emergencies - 480 998 5550
Either organization may know a re-habber down there that can help you out.
Was the one you pulled out of the light socket smaller or larger than the others? They do tend to wander around a little once they get a little bigger, so he could be somewhere on the roof or hiding where you cannot see him. If the parent's didn't want to take care of him, he would be dead very quickly, so if he was just in the light socket, he was probably just trying to get away from you, when the roof cutting began. Sit outside after dark and listen, you will hear them when they are fed, they make a weird kinda hissing sound. You should hear him if he is not in the same area as the others. If they were able to get to trees, they clamber all over them, even before they can fly.
Let us know what happens!
Susie
Fascinating story, Dion :-)
I adore owls.
When I view these pics of the owl homestead I just want to ask,
Have you called Merry Maids?
That place needs a once over.
*sigh*, well this story isn't over yet. It appears that there are several more babies in our attic, they were screeching last night and kept us up most of the night. I couldn't stand the thought of them up there with their parents unable to get to them, so I opened the hole where the vent was, which the builder is supposed to fix today. (It was covered with some heavy tiles and cardboard.) So all night I could hear the owl parents in the ceiling, which is now bare since we removed the insulation. The thing is, I don't know if it is multiple nests with different parents, or if they are all from the same nest. I really need to talk to someone who knows if they would tolerate 2 nests in the same area.
I am going to try to call the rescue people Susie mentioned when I get to to work.
Dion :)
I feel your pain!
Thats a bummer :( For you and the little Owls :(
I think the builder owes you some owl boxes! Do they have any shade where they are now? They might not survive in direct sun. Got my fingers crossed for a good outcome for you and your feathered friends. Good thing they're in your attic and not that of someone who wouldn't give a hoot. ;O)
These are great pictures!! I wish one would feel the need to move onto my property.
Wow, that's insane and very cool at the same time. I hope this all ends well.
I was worried about the sun, too...
Hope they're okay.
So are you gonna write a book?
"The Summer of the Owls".......
LOL thanks to everyone for their concern. I have good news! First, this morning I spoke to an owl rehaber and she assured me that it was very unlikely that the parents would kill the chick and that they were probably all from the same parents. That made me feel a bit better.
Then later today, our builder came back while we were at work and was able to perform another "owlectomy" on our bathroom ceiling through the vent fan and remove the final 2 little hissers. They were reunited with their siblings and are happily hissing the day away. :) (For those keeping count, that makes a total of 5 owlets, and yes I found the one I thought was missing, I think he was just hiding.)
As for the sun, the box they are in is enclosed and we put an extra layer of cardboard over the top to give it a little more shade. They seem to be doing fine, even the ones that have been up there since Saturday. I've been checking on them at least once a day, they were all hissing at me when I checked on them this afternoon and I am attaching a picture to prove it.
So I am looking forward to a nice quiet nights sleep tonight. *crossing fingers*
Dion :)
OMG, they are precious! Wow, I'm sure this has been waaaay more than you wanted to deal with, but you have done real good! It sounds like they will all be fine, and look out, before you know it, you'll be another bird rescuer!
Well done!
Brenda
I found this owl-cam http://www.birds.cornell.edu/birdhouse/nestboxcam/barn_owl_tx
LOL judyb, I love animal cams, I should put up one of my own on my roof. :)
WOW! WOW! WOW!.......what a story, loved it.......and just FYI, there is a great rehabber place in Tucson that we have visited and donated supplies to in the past. http://www.tucsonwildlife.com/index.html awaiting the next installment of your adventure!
Dion,
if you put up a cam I promise I will watch it!
Welcome to Dave's Garden, Dion.....I have D-mailed you.
Kakaina....there are some people that are working with owls near you in Palominas....they brought owls down form Tucson I believe....and are relocating them....they had lost their nesting places...Jo
Look at all those babies! LOL They're awesome!
I just happened upon this thread by accident, and, let me tell you, my heart was in my throat untill the good news came. Whew! Thanks, Dionosaur for saving the babies. May they repay you by keeping your home rodent free :)
Margo (who really belongs in SouthEAST Gardening but can never resist "look what we found...: type posts...)
Thanks for all the comments. I too am pleased that we got all the babies out and that they are doing well. And I finally got a decent night sleep. Unfortunately, we are working long shifts this week, so I don't have a lot of time to update this until the weekend, so I'll have to reply to some of you then.
Dion :)
Aaah! I could just smooch them ALL OVER!!!!
Dion they are just too adorable. I second Barb's response.
Margo come on over and visit anytime.
I ended up getting off work earlier than planned, so I just checked on the owls, and I have some sad news. It appears that one of the owls tried to learn to fly early and jumped off the roof. He didn't make it. I am just sick about it, I never imagined they would leave the nest box, let alone be able to get up over the edge.
I can't even imagine how he got up on the ledge. We are in a Santa Fe and there is a lip about 12-16 inches high around the edge. All the rest of them were safe and sound in the box, not running around on the roof, so I don't know why he left the nest box. Any ideas?
I haven't even ever seen any of them near the door, so I am very surprised one even left the safety of the box. I am thinking about moving the box to the section over the garage, that has an even higher lip around the edge.
Dion
So sad... but you are doing your best to save them. Sometimes you can't control everything. I hope the others are doing well. Maybe our bird experts will have some idea as to why or how it got off of the roof.