I live just within the city limits of Atlanta and many years I hear Barred Owls and in some years I’ve been able to spot them. I decided to splurge and buy a barred owl box from Wild Birds Unlimited but I have a bunch of questions regarding how to properly mount it, placement, maintenance and attracting the owls to it.
First, here are some pictures of the box.
https://imgur.com/a/5rdrGRX
As you can see, it has two mounting loops on the back. Should I just use large screws and drill two into the tree pushing against these loops? Should I use some sort of chain to hang it on? I’m not super handy so any advice on how to do this well would be helpful. (I have a 20 foot ladder, so I should definitely be able to get it up at a decent height).
Secondly, does it truly matter which direction it faces? I guess ideally I’d have it face our house, but it’d be facing west if I did that. Should I place it just above some limbs, for the owls to hang out on if possible, or would placing it on a very open part of the tree that is far from any limbs ok?
Next, there is no way to open the box to clean it out…this seems odd to me. Do I or should I ever get on a ladder and peek in? Put my arm in? This seems like a bad idea for a variety of reasons, right? Any advice here would be helpful.
Finally, how should I go about enticing the owls to the area? We have plenty of rodents, and a small stream within 50 yards of the house, so that probably helps but if there are other ways to make the presence of the box known, what should I do?
Thanks so much for any and all advice.
First, here are some pictures of the box.
https://imgur.com/a/5rdrGRX
As you can see, it has two mounting loops on the back. Should I just use large screws and drill two into the tree pushing against these loops? Should I use some sort of chain to hang it on? I’m not super handy so any advice on how to do this well would be helpful. (I have a 20 foot ladder, so I should definitely be able to get it up at a decent height).
Secondly, does it truly matter which direction it faces? I guess ideally I’d have it face our house, but it’d be facing west if I did that. Should I place it just above some limbs, for the owls to hang out on if possible, or would placing it on a very open part of the tree that is far from any limbs ok?
Next, there is no way to open the box to clean it out…this seems odd to me. Do I or should I ever get on a ladder and peek in? Put my arm in? This seems like a bad idea for a variety of reasons, right? Any advice here would be helpful.
Finally, how should I go about enticing the owls to the area? We have plenty of rodents, and a small stream within 50 yards of the house, so that probably helps but if there are other ways to make the presence of the box known, what should I do?
Thanks so much for any and all advice.
