VIDEO: Helping Barn Owls Help Growers
Barn owls are rodent-killing machines - natural predators of gophers and voles and other rodent pests of agriculture.
But as good as the owls can be at controlling rodents on farms, growers may still need rodenticides to control the population explosions that can happen with any small rodent species. And because rodenticides don’t kill immediately, barn owls can eat exposed voles, mice and rats and get exposed themselves, which may limit their ability to hunt and control pests.
This video looks at new research helping growers use both the owls and chemicals, in concert and safely.