Blue Ridge Country March/April 2023 - 56
LEFT: The overhead camera captured a variety of visitors to the owl box during the
time the owl was away, including, from top to bottom, squirrels, an opossum family
and many birds, including this northern flicker. Ryan Rice on the opossums: " I had
never found opossums particularly cute, but they grew on me and I got to learn a lot
about them. "
ABOVE: Ryan Rice came to understand that the screech owl's 10-month absence was
explained at least in part by the owl's use of the box as a winter home.
I kept the house up in hopes the owl
would return, but time went on and it
slipped from my mind. After a while, I decided
to check in on my cameras and was
surprised to find an opossum sleeping in
the house. I started paying more attention
and found it was coming daily, sleeping
for upwards of 20 hours a day.
Then after a couple days, I noticed tiny
pink-worm-looking babies in its pouch. It
wasn't the owl I had hoped for but I love
any wildlife and had fun watching the
babies grow from tiny hairless creatures
into miniature copies of their mother. I
56 BLUERIDGECOUNTRY.COM
had never found opossums particularly
cute but they definitely grew on me. I got
to learn a lot I never knew about opossums
from these observations. Eventually,
the opossum family grew too large for
the small confines of the owl house and
moved on.
After around a 10-month absence a
screech owl started returning to the owl
house regularly. It seems the owl house
is more of a winter residence. Luckily, I
kept the cameras in place and was able
to catch its return. So, we are once again
able to enjoy watching and learning about
the night-time bird of prey. The owl is a
very skilled hunter, and watching it bring
in a meal that is as large as itself is always
amazing. I have also since wrapped the
base of the tree in metal to try to keep the
opossum and owl from having a conflict
over who is the primary tenant.
Over the past year there have been visits
from many other creatures also: squirrels,
red-bellied
woodpeckers, northern
flickers and many other birds.
The owl house has been and continues
to be a great source of entertainment and
education for my family and me.
http://www.BLUERIDGECOUNTRY.COM
Blue Ridge Country March/April 2023
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Blue Ridge Country March/April 2023
Blue Ridge Country March/April 2023 - Cover1
Blue Ridge Country March/April 2023 - Cover2
Blue Ridge Country March/April 2023 - 3
Blue Ridge Country March/April 2023 - 4
Blue Ridge Country March/April 2023 - 5
Blue Ridge Country March/April 2023 - 6
Blue Ridge Country March/April 2023 - 7
Blue Ridge Country March/April 2023 - 8
Blue Ridge Country March/April 2023 - 9
Blue Ridge Country March/April 2023 - 10
Blue Ridge Country March/April 2023 - 11
Blue Ridge Country March/April 2023 - 12
Blue Ridge Country March/April 2023 - 13
Blue Ridge Country March/April 2023 - 14
Blue Ridge Country March/April 2023 - 15
Blue Ridge Country March/April 2023 - 16
Blue Ridge Country March/April 2023 - 17
Blue Ridge Country March/April 2023 - 18
Blue Ridge Country March/April 2023 - 19
Blue Ridge Country March/April 2023 - 20
Blue Ridge Country March/April 2023 - 21
Blue Ridge Country March/April 2023 - 22
Blue Ridge Country March/April 2023 - 23
Blue Ridge Country March/April 2023 - 24
Blue Ridge Country March/April 2023 - 25
Blue Ridge Country March/April 2023 - 26
Blue Ridge Country March/April 2023 - 27
Blue Ridge Country March/April 2023 - 28
Blue Ridge Country March/April 2023 - 29
Blue Ridge Country March/April 2023 - 30
Blue Ridge Country March/April 2023 - 31
Blue Ridge Country March/April 2023 - 32
Blue Ridge Country March/April 2023 - 33
Blue Ridge Country March/April 2023 - 34
Blue Ridge Country March/April 2023 - 35
Blue Ridge Country March/April 2023 - 36
Blue Ridge Country March/April 2023 - 37
Blue Ridge Country March/April 2023 - 38
Blue Ridge Country March/April 2023 - 39
Blue Ridge Country March/April 2023 - 40
Blue Ridge Country March/April 2023 - 41
Blue Ridge Country March/April 2023 - 42
Blue Ridge Country March/April 2023 - 43
Blue Ridge Country March/April 2023 - 44
Blue Ridge Country March/April 2023 - 45
Blue Ridge Country March/April 2023 - 46
Blue Ridge Country March/April 2023 - 47
Blue Ridge Country March/April 2023 - 48
Blue Ridge Country March/April 2023 - 49
Blue Ridge Country March/April 2023 - 50
Blue Ridge Country March/April 2023 - 51
Blue Ridge Country March/April 2023 - 52
Blue Ridge Country March/April 2023 - 53
Blue Ridge Country March/April 2023 - 54
Blue Ridge Country March/April 2023 - 55
Blue Ridge Country March/April 2023 - 56
Blue Ridge Country March/April 2023 - 57
Blue Ridge Country March/April 2023 - 58
Blue Ridge Country March/April 2023 - 59
Blue Ridge Country March/April 2023 - 60
Blue Ridge Country March/April 2023 - 61
Blue Ridge Country March/April 2023 - 62
Blue Ridge Country March/April 2023 - 63
Blue Ridge Country March/April 2023 - 64
Blue Ridge Country March/April 2023 - 65
Blue Ridge Country March/April 2023 - 66
Blue Ridge Country March/April 2023 - 67
Blue Ridge Country March/April 2023 - 68
Blue Ridge Country March/April 2023 - 69
Blue Ridge Country March/April 2023 - 70
Blue Ridge Country March/April 2023 - 71
Blue Ridge Country March/April 2023 - 72
Blue Ridge Country March/April 2023 - 73
Blue Ridge Country March/April 2023 - 74
Blue Ridge Country March/April 2023 - Cover3
Blue Ridge Country March/April 2023 - Cover4
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