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May 29, 2023

Creekside adds new homes for winged residents

A group of Pacifica homeowners has hired a new exterminator in an effort to control a growing population of gophers, voles and other rodents that have been plaguing their property in Linda Mar. New

A group of Pacifica homeowners has hired a new exterminator in an effort to control a growing population of gophers, voles and other rodents that have been plaguing their property in Linda Mar.

New homes for barn owls have been added to the Creekside neighborhood in Pacifica as a way to control gophers, voles and other pests.

“We are initiating a new form of rodent control that will be much more effective than the rodenticides that we have been using,” announced a flyer distributed to residents of the Creekside development on Rosita Avenue last week.

The homeowners association expects the new exterminators will save them money and protect the environment. The new crew works for less than minimum wage, has never filed a workers compensation claim or called in sick. Their only requirement for diligent pest control services is adequate housing with an east-facing window and broad views of the surrounding terrain.

The homeowners contacted Wild Wing to develop these new homes. The company, based in the Sonoma city of Cotati, has specialized in natural pest control by setting up barn owl boxes since 1993.

John Schuster, CEO of Wild Wing, said that although his company specializes in serving vineyards, it will go just about anywhere to find the right spot to erect new homes for the voracious owls. It won’t take long for the owls living in the surrounding trees to spot the new homes, according to Schuster, who fancies himself as the Johnny Appleseed of owls.

“My record was 24 hours for a box I set up near Fresno,” he said. In Sebastopol, owls set up home in four of his boxes within six weeks.

Schuster can’t say enough in praise of the industrious birds. He offered to return to Pacifica and give a presentation about them if anyone is interested.

The conditions around Creekside are perfect for developing an owl colony, Schuster said. He’s certain there are barn owls living in the surrounding eucalyptus trees, but the owls will readily set up home in some of the new boxes dotting the development because they prefer to hunt in open fields.

Once a breeding pair occupies one of the boxes, their family should quickly expand. When the owlets born at Creekside reach 6 months, they will be ready to move into one of the other boxes. “They don’t want to live with their parents, but they’ll stay close in case they want to come back to do some laundry,” Schuster joked.

The simple wooden structures that Schuster designed in collaboration with two other California owl specialists have everything the owls need. The small round openings all face east in order to maximize lunar light. Sun shields separated from the top and the back of the box by precisely 4 1/4 inches prevent the birdhouses from overheating.

Placing the boxes on top of long poles at least 15 feet away from trees keeps squirrels and raccoons out of the new homes.

Now the community just needs to wait.

“He told us some things to look for as signs that owls have moved in,” John Mendoza, president of the homeowners association said.

They shouldn’t listen for a hoot, which is the call of the great horned owl, but something more like a cat screeching.

“The owls will fly straight into the boxes like a bullet,” Schuster said. He also assured the homeowners that barn owls will never attack a dog or cat.

As long as people don’t shake the poles or disturb the box homes in some way, the owls don’t mind being watched. Mendoza and Schuster both hope the owls can also strengthen the human community and inspire people to gather and appreciate one of nature’s extraordinary creatures.

“In some places I’ve seen people keep watch and then cheer the owls when they bring home a kill,” Schuster said.

And killing is what they do. He estimates that the inhabitants of one box will catch 3,000 rodents in a year. An adult barn owl needs 156 grams of protein, or the weight of an average gopher, each day. But the growing owlets eat three to five times as much.

And one heads-up for the gophers: Schuster estimates that the impact the owl lowers on them is roughly the equivalent of a one-ton truck going 70 miles per hour hitting a person. His admiration for the exterminators outweighs any skepticism about that calculation.

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