I've been wanting to get some shots of raccoons and possums, but the fox are going to get any food I set out before they show up.
It occurred to me that the solution might be an elevated feeding station, and then I remembered the still-unoccupied owl nest box I built last summer. It occurred to me that it might do.
I put some bacon grease-soaked kibble inside, and smeared some cupcake icing and peanut butter up the bark of the tree. I then set the game camera on another tree, at the right height, about 15 feet away.
It's going to be a cold rainy night, and I doubt anything will be moving, but I’ll give it a week. The food should stay dry and insect-free. I'm not sure if raccoons are moving around too much or not. Perhaps for mating purposes?
If the raccoons can get inside the box, that will be good to know now. I can protect it later when owls might actually show up.
I know that your owl box has been re-purposed but I was wondering what type of owl you were hoping to attract. I have 4 owls (falconer and educator) and am doing my utmost to learn as much as I can. Yours looks like it is a Barn Owl box. If that is so, you may have no owls because of placement. It also can take 2-3 seasons to attract them.
ReplyDeleteBarn owls like open areas and Great Horned owls like forest. Owl boxes (and bat boxes) should be south-east facing (you probably already know this) and in an open area. You can stick the box on a pole (at least 20' up) and they are good with that. I am in Nor. California and our Barnies nest in palm trees. Not many barns left out here. There is a website, www.hop.org that has a lot of info. I did a couple of a fund raisers for them and they only served vegetarian food, which I found ironic when you're raising $ for obligate carnivores, but that's Marin County for ya.
I apologize if I sound condescending, email does that. Yours is the only blog that I have ever subscribed to.
Kate
Barred owl. Pretty big, forest bird. House very near my little koi pond. Plans lifted from here >> http://dnr.maryland.gov/wildlife/Pages/habitat/wabarrowlplan.aspx
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