On Saturday the N17 Owl Project and the Wildlife in Crisis in Springs got together to relocate the rehabilitated owls, which were treated at Wildlife in Crisis, to release them on a farm in Devon.
“We released four tortoises, three Spotted eagle-owls and two barn owls on the farm,” says Ben Janse van Vuuren from the N17 Owl Project.
They also mounted two owl breeding boxes in the trees and four resting poles for the owls as well as four feeding pipes for the mice.
The Spotted eagle-owl can see its prey from about 30 to 40 metres while the barn owl can hear its prey from about the same distance.
“We find a lot of injured owls who need to be rehabilitated,” he says.
Injured owls are brought to the Wildlife in Crisis centre for rehabilitation.
When the owls are well enough, they are released on farms where feeding poles are set up to attract mice and rats.
The owls then rid the farms of the mice and also have a steady home where they feed on a daily basis.
Farmers have saved a vast amount on their pest control accounts since the inception of the ‘owl restaurants’.
A breeding owl pair, with young in the nest, catch up to 24 mice per day to feed the babies thus reducing the damage to crops by a vast amount.
