DECEMBER 2019 • COUNTRY LIFE IN BC


35 Preserving owl, bat habitat good for farming


Billions of dollars in


pesticides saved by natural predators


by RONDA PAYNE


DELTA – It can be hard to tell friend from foe when it comes to insects and other potential crop pests, but helpers like bats and owls know what to go after to help reduce crop losses and pesticide use. A variety of methods can help farmers encourage these natural predators, first off by giving them homes. Cascade Box Group of Delta builds owl boxes for Sofi Hindmarch, project biologist with the Fraser Valley Conservancy, who has been providing owls with boxes for the last decade. “They are a bunch of


retired guys that get together and build excellent boxes,” she says. “Without their efforts, this project would not be possible.”


Once installed, each box


has room for a nesting pair of barn owls and their chicks. A family of owls can eat more than 1,000 rodents a year, including voles. Voles don’t generally go for crops when they have preferred food sources like grasses, but when those die off, the tender roots of young blueberries and cranberries are prime fodder. Most of the damage occurs from November onwards. Hindmarch has spent two


Biologist Sofi Hindmarch displays one of the owl boxes made by Cascade Box Group in Delta. The design is excellent for owlets. The hole is up high so babies need a bit of dexterity before they can reach it, and the porch gives them the ability to be outside, flap their wings and not fall when they first emerge from the nest. RONDA PAYNE PHOTO


years working with the BC Blueberry Commission to address vole damage. More recently, the BC Cranberry Marketing Commission has become involved. Hindmarch currently


focuses on installing owl boxes in blueberry fields and hopes to connect with more cranberry growers, too. Many


are looking for alternatives to chemical rodenticides. “They don’t want to use rodenticides,” she explains.


“They just don’t know how effective it is in [terms of] how much gets eaten by voles or deer mice.”


One message Hindmarch wants growers to hear is that


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from your AGRICULTURE & AGRI-BUSINESS TEAM 604-533-6828 Michele Anderson


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