Sonoma County's Wild Wing Company Brings Bio-Diversity to Rodent Control

Nature's most formidable rodent-ridding machine is the Barn Owl. Having been one of the first on the critter scene for the last, oh, mere 26 million years or so, the Barn Owl's impact on agriculture here in Northern California is only now coming to the forefront of pest control.

For now that we as a collective culture are starting to look a little closer at nature for simple answers to keeping a common problem of rodent invasion under control, the Barn Owl absolutely beats out nasty, toxic and eco-costly manufactured alternatives to pest predation.

Having been aware of Southern Sonoma-County based Wild Wing Company as a provider of inexpensive, high quality custom nesting boxes to attract fast-breeding barn owls to environmentally conscious gardeners, farmers, orchard and vineyard owners in the region and beyond, I hadn't imagined that owner, John Schuster's expert field consulting, surveys, installation of nesting box mounting posts and steel poles would come at such greatly affordable rates.

Meeting John at his country property in Cotati this weekend, I was impressed by his passion and knowledge of the history of biodiversity in Northern American pest control and his dedication and drive for increasing its use for ridding most of today's flying, crawling, burrowing, problem pests.

Just one barn owl nest box on your property will house a family of beneficial raptors capable of consuming up to 3,000 rodents each year.

I'm thinking of all my grape growing friends who talk of constant gopher-control nightmares. Wild Wing would be well suited to the cool climate vineyards of this region. So much so that an educational presentation to members of the Petaluma Gap Winegrower's Alliance is in order, hopefully sometime this Spring. 

Cats are not the answer to vineyard pest control, according to John. For they tend to take out entire families of beneficial guinea fowl that not only keep down ticks and fleas but help keep vineyard rows weed-free. I'll have to keep an eye on that vineyard tiger of mine and make sure there are several guinea fowl safety zones on the hill. 

Providing pest solution services to several East Bay clients, including rat or squirrel-infested municipalities, Wild Wing works with customers big and small.

Not only is it the Barn Owl that Wild Wing specializes in attracting to its nesting boxes, American Kestrels and Screech Owls come in just as useful in consuming smaller rodents such as mice, voles and pocket gophers. Kestrels keep away finch-sized birds and European starlings that like to do some serious damage to crops. 

Bluebird and beneficial songbird boxes have helped slow the decline of these insect-eating, feathered friends of the vineyard owner and organic farmer. 

Comments

[genevieve foster]

Hi, David gifted me an Owl box for Valentine's day last year. We have a very large sounding owl in the back yard, which is why we suspect the smaller barn owl box still remains empty.

[frances rivetti]

What a romantic Valentines Gift! And one great guy!

[Anastasia Schuster]

Great post on the barn owl Frances and what awesome photos! They are such amazing animals!

Anyway, of course I'm biased as John is my bro-in-law, but even if he wasn't I would highly recommend his services as he really does know his stuff and has been very effective in his work.

Thanks for helping to spread the word about non-toxic rodent/pest control options... :-)

[free dental care]

insects are most numerous creatures on the planet and this makes us the minority, but we should respect their habitat!

[Jared]

Hi, I'm building some owl boxes for my BSA Eagle Project soon and wanted to know if you have any suggestions. They will be located at my school vinyard in Santa Rosa.

I've heard you need to clean the boxes so often but, wondering what bedding needs to go in if any to start.

Any help or suggetions would be appreciated.

Sincerely,
Jared
BSA-Troop 32

[Frances]

Hi Jared, great to hear of your Eagle Project. Shoot an email with your questions to John at wildwing@sonic.net. John is the expert in this region and I'm sure will be more than happy to point you in the right direction.