I used to have them come to my feeders at nite but haven't seen any in the last while. Had a sick one once that was out in daylight. It jumped into my hand and tried to eat but it's teeth were so overgrown it had a problem. I took it to wildlife rescue and they said they had to file it's teeth , it was flea infested and had pneumonia.I never heard how it made out.The dogs showed up with a tail of one this week so they are still around ( or were ). I live along The Old Man Creek.They used to have a nest in an old tree, I wish one wud move into the Owl box since the owls aren't.

Animals can be so strange....you may put all your time and effort into building just the right box, selecting a 'perfect' site, and then....nothing. Or the opposite may happen, and it will seem as if they were sitting around WAITING for you to get their new home up and going for them. I think it's different for everybody, but you will have to be PATIENT. Years ago we got a booklet from the DNR that had blueprints and general info for houses that were specific for each species. We looked it over and chose to make wood duck boxes, thinking they would have a place to nest by our pond. What we learned, in fact, was that many species simply don't care if a box is not "designed" for them...if they can get their bodies through the hole, there's nobody already at home (depending on the animal this may not matter either) and the place seems safe enough, it's a done deal. Not only will screech owls use a duck box as a day haven, they will indeed nest and rear young in them. There is a slough I frequent that has three duck boxes on it, and during one spring I discovered one particular box was home to a nest of screechies. I think the slough was dry that year, but usually this box is surrounded by about 2 1/2 feet of water...a rough first flight for any chick. I can't recall how many chicks were in that nest...I will have to try to dig out the animal album and find the photos. But they will use a duck box. When we first hung out duck boxes here at our place, I was getting frustrated waiting. It was something like three years before we finally found a nest, and then all three boxes had action!! It's worth the wait, so hang in there. But I'm still waiting for bats to use their house....I don't think they need any extra places with all the shagbark hickories. But the winner in my Crazy Nester category goes to the bluebirds at my dad's place. For the past three years, there has been a pair of bluebirds nesting in his martin house. Not a thing to be seen of any martins, but these blues are shoulder to shoulder with house sparrows and to this day I don't yet understand how they are pulling this off.

teri2 As a nature photographer, your plight has offered me so much excitement i scarcely know where to begin. I sympathize with you at the lack of birds, i don't know how i would get through my winter days if it weren't for all the birds at my feeders but before we address how to run that hawk off, I would strongly encourage you to grab your camera and get as many photos as you can. It is a rare opportunity to see a hawk close up. I was especially excited when you mentioned the white weasel. I suspect what you saw was a STOAT (Mustela Erminea) commonly called a "Short tailed Weasel. The Stoat ranges throughout the northern temperate and arctic range, although they are generally nocturnal and extremely elusive. In summer they are brown and called stoats, but in winter they have a white coat and they are properly called Ermine. In the fur industry the white pelt of an Ermine is prized higher than mink because unlike Mink, the Ermine cannot be raised in captivity. They are extremely difficult to trap because they will literally chew their own foot off to escape a leg hold trap. Just getting a fleeting glimpse of an Ermine is a once in a lifetime event. Now let us consider how you might deter the hawk. About the only natural enemy of the hawk is a large owl. they make a large owl decoy that is primarily used by gardeners to deter birds from their gardens. Erecting such a decoy where the hawk likes to perch would probably deter the hawk, but on the other hand, it may also deter the smaller birds in the same way the hawk is doing now. I can think of one other method that may work. Most marine stores or boatyard stores stock an inflatable snake which is about 6ft long when inflated. They principally place them on boats to deter birds from roosting in the rigging and making a mess on the deck or superstructures. I don't know how effective it would be in winter, but considering that the inflatable snakes are rather cheap, it would certainly be worth trying. you can also find those inflatable snakes listed in garden catalogs, or they may have them in the garden shop at your local big box store.

and people don't want to wade through all that. Gratifying that you enjoyed it. I never had seen an owl close up like that even in a zoo, saw one in my tree high up that had ticked off about 15 crows, no camera lens I had then or now that would reach that far, they have to come to me lol. It is truly those eyes. How I wanted to adopt it, but I knew that would be selfish and the animal control people could have made things extremely difficult for me if they got wind of it. My son said, "Mom, why don't you just take it in and feed it." I might have done that, but gambeled (wish they had a spell checker, I'm getting bad) that it would be better off in the wild. You have no idea of the anguish I felt when it got on that wire, worried that it would get on the hot one. But I knew that it was stronger to get up there which meant it must have been getting some nourishment. I had dreams of training my own owl, have a leather shield made for my arm for it to perch on like those falconers in the old books and movies had. Maybe in another life? I try not to entertain such thoughts, but sure would like to meet up with it again in a better world. I kept a little feather that stuck to my clothes so I know it belonged to that owl that I put in the envelope of little things I want buried with me, along with a clipping of my favorite cat's fur. Now that is silly, isn't it? A hanky I gave my grandmother when I was little, silly little things, I'm not through yet lol. Really, the only aid I gave it was keep it off the ground so a dog wouldn't get it or the neighbor kids get to fooling with it, tried to keep it quiet around here, but finally a few got wind of it and were quite fascinated. I also have two owl feathers I picked up in the yard and put them in a small pottery vase one of my children made in school. I like that. I'll finish my silly story. I'm sitting in the one a/c room, finally turned it on, it is sizzling hot and humid, and I hear a ruckus outside, open the window and see three kids in my apple tree going for the green apples. Can anyone relate? I told them to come down from the tree, it wasn't safe. So I go get my apple picker, went out in the heat, and got them each a green apple, one wanted two and bigger, of course. I told them they were sour. They only wanted them because they were hard to get to. They will be back when they think I'm not looking lol. I hate to be like that, but because of lawsuits and parents, I don't want kids getting hurt on my property even if I have insurance. Some people just go for as deep pockets as they can find . . .a different world out there.