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04/12/2006: "Colonialism"

Well, the season is officially over. We checked the box this morning and found a huge Acrobat Ant colony in the camera compartment. There were eggs and hundreds of ants in there. There were very few in the actual owl nest compartment, so I doubt it was the ants that kept the owls away. This is especially true since the ants weren't around on March 7th, which was the last day any owls entered the box.
Better luck next season. If this ant infestation had happened during nesting, it would have been a big problem. Perhaps well have to use Tanglefoot (pine tar) next year to keep ants away from the box. Tanglefoot might present a problem for any owlets that fly out and try to climb back up the tree, though, so we'll have to think carefully about that one.

Replies: 1 Comment

on Thursday, August 24th, Julie Searles said

Thanks so much for all you do! I appreciate it!!!
Julie