I went out to dig the last 25 holes for the tree slips coming next week, and after digging the holes, I set out a quart of cracked corn for the deer, and walked the two wee wolves down the hill and up. After that, I checked out the remains of a windfall oak I had gifted to my neighbor’s chainsaws and splitters.
Guess what?
Left behind were four pretty large hollow sections perfect for Pileated Woodpecker or smaller owl houses. I collected four of those, and will cut plywood tops, bottoms, and entrance holes as needed.
These hollow cuts are 15-16 inches deep and 6-8 inches across on the inside.
Along with the nice hollow bird house bodies, I also collected 10 inhabitants of one of the hollows — the larva of Eastern Hercules Beetles, the largest beetles in the eastern U.S. They have now been put into a glass terrarium with decaying oak substrate for them to feed on. This terrarium joins another terrarium with year-old
Hercules Beetles inside. There’s not much maintenance associated with these pets; no feeding or walking, poop cleanup, or training. All that need to be done is to keep the substrate reasonably moist, which is not too heavy a lift if you have large lidded glass tumblers.
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