Box Eight Down!

It's been a long summer here in the Piedmont, and to our knowledge, we have yet to attract any owls to our nest boxes. That's OK, because odds are long for getting owls the first season. We knew this would be a long term process.

We suffered a minor setback when box number 8, at Anilorac Farm, went down. I drove by one day and the box appeared to be missing!! After a little investigation, it turned out that the box and pole had merely been knocked over.

The owner of Anilorac suspects the box may have been blown over by a strong wind. When I inspected the site, however, it looked like someone may have lowered the pole and box to the ground. There was no damage to the box.

Local farmers lease the land, so it's possible the box was lowered for some reason unbeknownst to us. In any case, we will re-examine our pole mount system to see if we can't improve on it in cases of wind. We may have to use guy wires to secure boxes located in vulnerable areas. 

When I returned the box to the upright position, I tested the wobble of the tire and pole, and the system seemed pretty secure. The box itself looked a bit pitiful in its dirty state, but the molded plastic has proven itself to be a resilient material.

Boxes 9-12 should be up soon, so stay tuned.