Underground drip irrigation has become very popular in Kansas, and along with that seems to have come the problem of gophers chewing holes in the drip tubes, evidently to get to the moisture inside. Those holes, unseen from the surface when the tubes are dry, show-up as mudholes in the spring when the irrigation is turned on, requiring the tubes to be dug-up and the holes repaired. Research has been ongoing into placing nest boxes along fields in hopes of attracting barn owls to help catch the gophers and other rodents when they immerge and scurry about after dark.
It’s hard to convince people there are lots of bobcats in Kansas because they are rarely seen, and so it is with barn owls. Barn owls are very secretive and like nesting / roosting sites that are well hidden, so it’s tough to think there are many around. Actually, barn owls are the most widely distributed of all owls, and one of the most widely distributed birds overall; they are found on every continent but Antarctica. Barn owls are thought to be the origin of many ghost myths, as their vocalization resembles a scream and they appear “ghost-like” in a dark building. Adult barn owls in the USA are from 12 to 15 inches tall with a wingspan of over 40 inches. A falconer friend who has a barn owl named Zoe and is from the UK, tells me that barn owls in the UK. are about half that size. Barn owls have large, broad wings with soft feathers that allow for silent flight. Their necks are flexible enough to let their heads turn more than 180 degrees in each direction. A very distinctive face with cupped facial discs funnels sounds out to their ears, giving them possibly the best hearing of all common owls. One talon on each foot actually has tiny serrations on one edge like a comb and is thought to help with grooming those facial discs.
Barn owls usually form monogamous pairs and as long as habitat and food availability remain, that pair will nest in the same site for years. They are “cavity nesters,” along with Kestrels and Screech Owls, so they can be attracted to nest boxes, and they adapt very readily to human activity as long as their nesting/roosting site is concealed. Clutches of eggs average from 4 to 7, but can be more if prey is abundant. Studies show that the amount of prey available actually dictates the number of eggs laid and the number of chicks fledged, even to the point where 2 broods of chicks might be raised in a single year if prey is very plentiful. Barn owl eggs are “asynchronous,” meaning incubation begins as each egg is laid, so there will always be older and younger chicks in each brood.
Not to be over-simplistic, but the first key to attracting barn owls to a nest box is an abundance of prey. A friend just recently told me that when he had hogs, there were barn owls in every crack and crevice available in his silo and buildings, because where there are hogs, there are usually an abundance of rodents. Barn owls like open farm country and pastureland. The absolute best hunting habitat for them are areas of rough grass that only occasionally or never gets cut or grazed. These areas of rough grass contain a deep “liter layer” on the ground made up of dead grasses from previous years that encourage rodents to build nests and tunnels. Nesting boxes on poles and in the ends of buildings should face or at least be near open farm and pasture land for them to hunt. Since barn owls are so secretive most of the time, sometimes you will only know they are present by seeing “pellets” on the ground near the nest. All owls regurgitate pellets composed of bone, fur and all other undigested material. Fresh owl pellets near a nest box or cavity are sure signs of a renter within.
Barn owl populations are threatened when pesticides are used to kill rodents, when dead trees are cut down and old farm buildings are removed and when grasslands are turned into farm ground. In light of those challenges, manmade nesting boxes placed inside existing farm buildings or on poles along field edges are beneficial to attracting God’s “critter-gitters” to your property. So, if gophers and other rodents are giving you fits, why not look into erecting an owl nest box or two. Contact me and I’ll point you in the right direction or contact Mark Browning with the Barn Owl Box Company, www.barnowlbox.com, a company the manufactures commercially made barn owl nest boxes. Continue to Explore Kansas Outdoors.
Steve can be contacted by email at [email protected].
Barn Owls; just one of God’s Critter- Gitters
Still in limbo
Professional Horses Of The Year Announced
Success in the sport of rodeo doesn’t fall on just the cowboys and cowgirls. Their horses play just as big of factor when they step foot in the arena.
The Nutrena Horse of the Year Awards presented by the American Quarter Horse Association provide recognition to the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) top horses.
The top three horses in each category are listed below.
Team Roping Header
Mr Joes Shadow Bar, “Joe,” ridden by Clint Summers, owned by Clint Summers; (Tie for second and third) Espuela Bro, “Spur,” ridden by Tyler Wade, owned by Tyler and Jessi Wade; and LR Gatlin, “Colt,” ridden by Nelson Wyatt, owned by Nelson Wyatt.
Team Roping Heeler
Kadabra King, “Turbo,” ridden by Patrick Smith, owned by Patrick and Christi Smith; (Tie for second and third); Two Socks Chic Cody, “Garfield,” ridden by Hunter Koch, owned by Hunter Koch; and Apolo Oak, “Apollo,” ridden by Paul Eaves, owned by Paul Eaves; and fourth TRR Freckles Holidoc, “Cantina,” ridden by Logan Medlin, owned by Logan Medlin.
Steer Roping
Son of a Glow, “Junior,” ridden by Slade Wood, owned by Slade Wood; second, JS Frosty Badge Badger, “Goose,” ridden by Scott Snedecor, owned by Scott Snedecor; and third, Mesquitewood, “San Antone,” ridden by Cody Lee, owned by Cody Lee.
Steer Wrestling
EDS Famous Bar, “Eddie,” ridden by Dalton Massey, Tanner Milan, Stephen Culling, Ryan Shuckburgh, Curtis Cassidy, Mike McGinn, J.D. Struxness, owned by Tanner Milan; second, Dashin Haze, “Tyson,” ridden by Jesse Brown, Dakota Eldridge, Kyle Irwin, Curtis Cassidy, owned by Curtis Cassidy; and third, Be Dun By Three, “Benz,” ridden by Clayton Hass, Ty Erickson, Will Lummus, owned by Clayton Hass.
Tie-Down Roping
Stylish Bugsy, “Bugsy,” ridden by Shane Hanchey, Caleb Smidt, and Hunter Herrin, owned by Shane Hanchey; second, Chuchara Sal, “Sally,” ridden by Ty Harris, Joel Braden Harris, owned by Ty Harris; and third, Seven S Tomahawk, “Smoke,” ridden by Haven Meged, owned by Haven Meged.
Barrel Racing
Fame Fire Rocks, “Poprocks,” ridden by Taycie Matthews, owned by Mission Ranch LLC; second, Jets Top Gun, “Benny,” ridden by Brittany Pozzi Tonozzi, owned by Busby Quarter Horses; and third, Fiery Miss West, “Missy,” ridden by Jessica Routier, owned by Gary A. Westergren.
Breakaway Roping
No Wimpy Turns, “Onna,” ridden by Shelby Boisjoli, owned by Shelby Boisjoli; second, Kits Tiana Play, “Little Man,” ridden by Kelsie Domer, owned by Kelsie Domer; and third, Baybe Bullet, “Baybe,” ridden by Joey Williams, owned by Taylor and Joey Williams.
Pickup Horse
Baby Hes Hot, “Baby,” ridden by Tyler Kraft, owned by Tyler Kraft; second, Buckle Set, “Wiggles,” ridden by Josh Edwards, owned by Josh Edwards; and third, Drifters Docs Clay, “Bay,” ridden by Tommy Pettit, owned by Tommy Pettit.
+++30+++
Mixed-up times
These are mixed-up times for me. I’m writing this column in advance of our anticipated move to our new home. So, that means, if all goes according to plan, that I’m writing this column before we move, but you will read it after our move.
This week we got most of our packing up ready for the move. The walls in our home are bare, as are most of the cupboards.
A lot of the furniture of the new owners is already sitting in our basement, and a pet aquarium snail belonging to the teenage daughter of the new owners is also living in our basement.
My latest encounter with wildlife at Damphewmore Acres is another hungry prairie falcon — most likely a fall migrator. Yesterday, it killed and ate a large portion of one of the hens that was going to the new owner. Between the foxes and the falcons, the new owner will be lucky to have any chickens left. So, for the next week, I guess I’ll have to keep “their” hens in the henhouse for protection.
***
I’ve been involved on the periphery of farming and ranching for decades — long enuf to have sorted through a bunch of agricultural truisms. The list of truisms, as it stands today, follows:
• It never wise to make square bales of hay heavier than your wife can lift.
• Just for orneriness, it’s fun to always keep enough open cows in your herd to aggravate your veterinarian.
• It’s never wise to ever insist that your wife back up a gooseneck trailer to anything.
• It’s presumptuous to ever assume your dog will learn more than you can teach it.
• The smart move is to always let your wife drive the rig that is being pulled.
• Experience proves its never wise to expect much help from a cattle truck driver wearing new coveralls and ostrich boots.
• It’s a mistake to ever put anything you need on the north side of the shed in the winter.
• Be prepared: Always insist, if your check bounces, it’s your bank’s error.
• It’s wise to never build a wire gate tighter than your wife can open and close.
• Experience proves it’s never wise to expect a borrowed tool to return to its proper place promptly and in the same condition.
• It’s wise to always expect a machinery breakdown of some sort if a storm is approaching.
• It’s a given for your best bull to come down with trich or anaplasmosis.
• If it’s never rained for months, always expect a toad-strangling, water-gap-breaking rain when you’re on your long-put-off out-of-state vacation.
• It’s unwise to expect a cheery welcome home when you’re late for supper and the food is cold.
• The Law of Livestock dictates that the smallest heifer in the herd will have the largest calf and need expensive vet assistance.
• It’s unwise to expect to re-find the profit-assuring article in your favorite farm or ranch publication that you stashed away for future reading.
• You can be assured you will rip a hole in your new insulated denim jacket the first time you wear it.
• It’s the Law of Succession at work: Rest assured your teenage son will “know” more about farm management than his archaic dad and be plenty ready to explain it.
• When a windshield gets cracked on the gravel road, be assured it will always be on the family SUV, not on your ancient and battered beater of a feed truck.
• If you have two cats, one a house cat, the other a feral refugee, it’s a certainty that they both will efficiently kill song birds at your wife’s bird feeder.
I’m certain there are other aggie “truisms,” but those are the ones I could conjure up this week.
***
Two ranchers were confabbing in the middle of the road about happenings in their community. One rancher said, “Did you hear about old Billy. He got remarried at the age of 90. And his new wife is only 30 years old.”
The second ranchers replied, “We have a name for that kind of thing in my family. We call it a football wedding.”
The first rancher queries, “Just what is a football wedding?”
The second rancher replied, “She’s just waiting for him to kick off.”
***
My words of wisdom for the week relate to the above story: “Anyone who marries for money eventually earns every cent of it.”
Enjoy the fall weather. Hope your harvest is better than you expected.
And, last but not least, “Have a good ‘un.”
