Will great horned owls predate barn owls? Less likely if box is in barn? (1 Viewer)

Greetings,

I live in Southern California, USA, in an area where we have lots of great horned owls, and what I think is a pretty good amount of barn owls (rural area, lots of ranches and barns, infinity field mice). I inherited a nice barn owl box I was thinking of putting up on a pole on my property, but we get so many horned owls here, I fear I'd be putting up a death trap for a barn owl family.

Alternately, I could give it to my neighbor who has a big, high open barn...exactly the kind of space barn owls would be attracted to. Yes, great horned owls could probably raid a barn owl box in a barn, but it seems to me less likely to do so compared to a box on a pole.

Any thoughts and advice on these issues is much appreciated. How worried should I be about a box on a pole getting successfully attacked by great horned owls? Would any such danger be significantly reduced if the box is in a barn?

Thanx!

Otherchuck

Possibly, but as you have a reasonable amount of Barn Owls in the area I would suggest a box within a barn as more likely to be of interest. If not for breeding, it may suffice as a good daytime roost. Research here in the UK indicates a much lower "take up" percentage of boxes on isolated poles,from my interpretation.
Good luck.