The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 62, No. 14, Ed. 1 Thursday, November 14, 1974 Page: 4 of 24
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Owl nest in chem lab may help drive away
by RON MILLER
Dr. Dan Johnson has become
the biology department's resi-
dent celebrity for his project to
rid the Rice campus of its peren-
nial deluge of migrating black-
birds. Word of his research has
spread to several areas of the
country and was featured in a
front-page article in a recent
Houston Post. Dr. Johnson is a
little surprised by the publicity,
for he is only trying to find a
workable solution to the sticky
(pun, what pun?) problem.
Unless something is done to
remove them, there is no doubt
that the birds are here to stay,
and Dr. Johnson says there will
be more of them. Many birds are
already in Houston roosting in a
wooded area near the northwest
corner of the 610 loop. An
apartment complex soon to be
built there threatens to erase the
woods entirely, and next year
the birds may be headed for
South Main as early as Septem-
ber.
Although many birds feed on
the Rice campus by day, they do
not begin roosting here—staying
overnight—until the bulk of
them come down from Okla-
homa and Arkansas, when it
turns colder, and the other
wooded areas of the city get
overcrowded.
It is when they roost here
that the big problems occur.
While they are spread all over
the city searching for food by
day, they can all reside on the
campus at night, and the popula-
tion of an estimated several hun-
dred thousand leaves quite a
mess of dead birds and layers of
droppings.
Owls to be restored
Recently, Dr. Johnson has
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been pondering a plan that has
aroused the curiosity of many
Rice people—providing a home
for several barn owls in the attic
of the Chem Lab. The idea grew
out of responses the biologist
received to an article he wrote in
the most recent Sallyport, the
Alumni Association newspaper.
He had asked for reminiscences
of the bird problem in past
years, hoping to find a clue to its
origin.
Sure enough, several alumni
remembered owls that had lived
on campus. When one of the
birds began molesting students
in 1965, it was shot and the nest
in the Chem Lab was sealed off.
Coincidentally or otherwise, the
migrating birds first found the
Rice campus to their liking a
year later.
Dr. Johnson told the story of
the owls and it proved to be a
colorful saga. They lived on the
campus for more than half a cen-
tury. They were -here, in fact,
before the Rice Institute was
ever opened, inhabiting the
woods in which the school was
constructed. Perhaps they even
inspired the selection of the Owl
as the Rice mascot and symbol
on the Institute seal. Of course,
the choice was most likely based
on the Athenean association of
wisdom with the owl, but the
legends live on.
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No simple project
Restoring the owls is not as
simple a project as it appears.
When the young birds are raised
by humans, they tend to be
more aggressive and may resume
their nocturnal raids on pedestri-
ans. Dr. Johnson is consulting
the curator of birds at Washing-
ton's National Zoo, who success-
fully installed a nest in the
Smithsonian Institution and
stocked it with semi-domestica-
ted adult owls which raised their
own offspring. The rats along
the mall there are disappearing.
The owls would not be expec-
ted to track down every last
grackle, but their presence
would give the birds quite an
incentive to seek a distant roost-
ing place. Dr. Johnson said he's
"still not sure" that the plan
would work, but it "might be
fun to try."
Pruning trees suggested
Still, the proposal is only a
"dramatic" one at best. Dr.
Johnson believes that the long-
range cause of the bird problem
is inadequate pruning of the
campus' gradually-spreading
trees. He pointed to aerial pho-
tos of the campus taken over
forty years ago. They show
sparse growth of the oaks which
today grace much of the cam-
pus. He thinks the trees were
kept well-pruned at least until
the '40's because of their small
numbers and size, and because
of an exceptionally fine head
gardener named Tony Martino.
This year, then, the research-
er oversaw the expenditure of
$1600 for the pruning of trees in
the RMC courtyard and areas
near the Chemistry and Physics
lecture halls. "My deep-down
feeling is that this is going to be
the solution," he said. The birds
"don't recognize (a pruned tree)
as a good roosting place." If the
grackles indeed avoid these
areas, a regular program to keep
all the trees thinned out will be
considered.
The trees would look more
spacious, more "like Southern-
trees should" and would allow
more sunlight for azaleas and
grass beneath them if they were
kept pruned. But since balancing
the University budget is a diff-
icult task anyway, the program
will not be favored unless its suc-
cess is almost certain.
Net to protect Hackermans'
This year, also, the Hacker-
mans' home will be protected by
$1300 worth (installation
included) of plastic mesh
netting—the type used by fruit
growers—spread over the trees
around it. It will be installed by
helicopter in the very near
future, and should last a couple
of years. Theoretically it will not
be visible from the ground, and
will prevent the birds from land-
ing to feed or roost.
The cost is justified, ex-
plained Dr. Johnson, because the
Hackermans are the only people
who actually reside under the
threat of the birds. Since they
frequently entertain alumni,
potential contributors, and
members of the academic com-
munity, the birds can be highly
embarrassing to the University.
An attempt will be made
again this year to scare the birds
out of their wits. For three days,
after Dr. Johnson has had time
to band birds and observe their
travels, he will direct an all-out
blitz, utilizing broadcast grackle
distress calls, lights, and maybe
even the MOB. The attack will
be made for an hour before and
after sunset for three days only,
and will not be repeated if it
does not work. Dr. Johnson
expects many in the Rice com-
munity to contribute their inge-
nuity and join the effort. He will
announce in advance when the
attack will occur.
"Scare tactics" possible
It is a last-ditch effort, "and
the researcher is hesitant to pre-
dict its success. "If it does work-
we're heroes and everyone can
clap dnd send money," he said
with a grin. Maybe no one will
be sending any money, but Dan
Johnson has done his home-
work, and as we all know, those
are the people who succeed.
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the rice thresher, november 14, 1974—page 4
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Brewton, Gary. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 62, No. 14, Ed. 1 Thursday, November 14, 1974, newspaper, November 14, 1974; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth245209/m1/4/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.