Owls and Chico State in cahoots
CHICO >> In an effort to help rid the Chico State campus of a gopher nuisance, the school’s Facilities Management and Services employees have attached owl boxes to trees neighboring effected fields.
Chico State’s Supervisor of Grounds and Landscape Services Mike Alonzo said with a majority of students away from campus the last year, gophers digging holes into the open grass fields around Chico State has become a problem.
The idea for the owl boxes to help the gopher problem came to Alonzo from Chico State Pest Control and Spray Specialist Brian Cross.
Alonzo said that yearround staff from his office use traps to catch gophers, and they also have a pair of carbon monoxide machines with small engines and hoses that are then inserted into the gopher mounds. In the past Chico State has used granular bait traps, though Alonzo said this tactic has not been used for several years.
There are nine boxes that have been constructed to be placed around the Chico State campus, which will serve as an eco-friendly alternative to dealing with the gophers. Seven boxes have been installed. The initial boxes were installed in
January and February, prior to the roosting season for the barn owls Alonzo and his team hope to attract.
Some have been placed behind Modoc Hall near Bidwell Mansion, where Alonzo said a large gopher problem has been occurring. Another spot the boxes have been placed are overlooking Yolo Field as well as the open field behind Nettleton Stadium. Alonzo added that the type of tree the box is located on is not
of importance, but rather the location. Alonzo and his team have placed the boxes near fields which they hope the owls will come to prey.
“We’re just trying to encourage some more wildlife on campus and try to let them work their magic while we tend to the fields and do all the landscaping duties,” Alonzo said.
The cost of the project was roughly $1,100, Alonzo said, and was made possible by the help of the Chico State carpenters who had fewer projects to work on in the winter months and were able to take on the building of the owl boxes. Alonzo
said carpenters downloaded construction plans for the boxes, and resources, materials and lumber were purchased by the Chico State’s grounds department. The boxes are weatherproofed, sloped for drainage and built with 10-year roofing shingles. Alonzo said the boxes will be checked yearly for owl usage, maintenance and cleaning.
“All this was done inhouse it was by our in-house carpenters,” Alonzo said. “The idea was really hashed by our pest control specialist , and we were able to get all the players together all at the same time and make it happen.”
Alonzo said the final two owl boxes will be installed between August and October, after Chico State is able to see the first season’s results. If the boxes are vacant, Alonzo said his team’s next plan is to create some horned owl boxes, as the current ones have been made to attract barn owls. Horned owls prefer a platform to rest one, so if this round of owl boxes fails to succeed Alonzo’s next hope is that horned owls may make a return to the Chico State campus.
In Spring 2019 Chico State had a horned owl nest above the Wildcat Foot Pantry, where a mother and two baby owls were born, before leaving the nest with the babies’ parents shortly after being birth.
“Rather than going after more poisons and harsher tactics, we want to employ some more natural pressure against the gophers,” Alonzo said. “So we put up the owl boxes in hopes that at least a couple of them get some owls living in there this year.”