🐝 Owls in vineyards

Owls in vineyards are helpers of the grower. They catch voles and mice that gnaw the roots and bark of the vine and spoil the crop. So special nest boxes for owls are put up in vineyards, and the birds settle there.

How does it work? An owl hunts mostly at night. One adult owl can eat many small rodents in a night. The more owls around, the less damage rodents do. An owl box is a wooden box hung on a post or tree at the edge of a vineyard. Owls build a nest in it and raise chicks.

This is part of a careful, natural approach to viticulture. Instead of rodent poison, natural predators are used. Owls are among the birds in vineyards that growers regard as helpers.

The method does not replace all other measures, but it helps to reduce the use of chemicals. And it is simply beautiful: an owl on a post among the rows of vines.