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It’s always good to see humans going back to nature, instead of using harmful chemicals that can both endanger plants and animals alike.
And this refreshing story from Napa Valley vintners going green with their farming methods is indeed good news. Instead of using super-toxic pesticides that poison everything, including their wine – they now use winged laborers for their pest control.
Nesting owls, specifically hawks and other birds of prey identified as raptors, are currently being welcomed onto California vineyards for their skill in terms of catching rats, vole-estation, and gopher-gobbling, and researchers are currently investigating the effect of these strategies are searching for encouraging outcomes.
They were known to be using ultra-toxic “rodenticide,” a poison type formerly used to kill mice and voles munching on vines – not until these owls and hawks show up to help them.
For years, vintners in California were proud of the certain je ne sais quoi, inherent in their wines which made Napa a world-class destination for growing grapes.
One of the world’s most efficient pest controllers is the barn owl, which is found on 6 of our 7 continents and is capable of eating 3,400 rodents each year.
Matt Johnson is a wildlife professor at Humboldt State who began a program years ago to study raptor pest control in vineyards and research the results. A survey by graduate student Brooks Estes found that four-fifths of the 75 California grape growers purposely invite owls onto their property by constructing nest boxes.
“We’re working mainly in Napa Valley, where there are over 300 barn owl nest boxes,” Johnson wrote on his department’s webpage.
“You can literally put a barn owl nest box in the exact location where you think you have a problem with the small mammals, and voilà! The owls will start using that area,” John C. Robinson, a local ornithologist, told Bay Nature Magazine.
Johnson and his graduate students have found that barn owls like their boxes to sit at least 9 feet off the ground, face away from the sun, adjacent to grassy fields, and preferably far from forested acres.
Early surveys suggest that it’s possible more vintners are using barn owls and even traps, than pesticides, but how much pesticide use was avoided in favor of the owls is not known.
All the incentives are there, however, because using owls is much less expensive than trapping: 26 cents per rodent versus $8.11. It’s also helping a beautiful group of species to thrive.
Ventura County uses birds, including hawks, falcons, and owls, instead of rodenticides, across nearly one hundred dikes and dams, as the rodents’ burrowing can damage the structures. Ventura County Watershed Protection Department reports a cost savings of $216,000 per channel mile compared with traps.
The owls not only help winemakers lower their costs, but they also make the vineyards greener and keep ecosystems healthier—a dignified result that reflects the majesty of the famous valley.
Watch it here: GreatBigStory/Youtube
Sources: GoodnewsNetwork, Bay Nature Magazine
