An owl box in Suisun Valley. (Photo by Nick Sestanovich)

Does Benicia give a hoot? That question will be answered if the Parks, Recreation & Cemetery Commission accepts an Owl Box Pilot Program at Wednesday’s meeting.

According to a staff report by Theron Jones, parks supervisor and city arborist, the Owl Box Pilot Program is an Integrated Pest Management Program that provides shelter for nesting barn owls to reduce the rodent populations in and around Benicia Community Park and Lake Herman Open Space. Jones wrote that rodents– particularly gophers, voles, mice and rats– create problems for the areas.

“Pocket gophers tunnel through the turf areas leaving holes and mounds of soil and rocks and feeding on the root systems of plants,” he wrote. “Aside from the visual impact on the parks, these holes and mound of soil create a significant trip hazard to the general public, especially when they occur on athletic field. The mounds of soil in the turn cause unnecessary wear and tear on mowers and leave the potential for rocks to be thrown by the mower blades.”

Likewise, Jones wrote that voles tunnel through turf areas and chew on the soft bark of sapling trees, which often kills them before the trees can mature.

The city’s solution to the pest problem is to provide boxes on poles for owls to nest in and fly out to kill rodents.

“Barn owls hunt at night and may consume as many as 1,000 small mammals in a single nesting season,” Jones wrote.

Jones noted the birds are not a threat to pets.

The program has been used by the city of Davis, Genentech in Vacaville, Golden Gate Park, Port of Stockton and various vineyards in Napa and Sonoma counties. In Benicia, it would consist of installing four poles along the trail in the open space between Lake Herman and Benicia Community Park. Two boxes would be placed on each pole. They would be far enough off the trail so that passers-by do not interfere with them but close enough to allow for annual cleaning of the boxes, Jones wrote.

The nest boxes would be donated by Maximillian Burgess and Andy Sullivan of Life Scouts Troop 007. Initial installation would cost $400, and annual cleaning would cost $250. If successful after a year or two, the program could be expanded to other parts of the city with high rodent populations, Jones wrote.

In other business, the Commission will consider accepting a proposal by Maximillian Burgess to construct a weather structure at the Phenix Dog Park for his Eagle Scout project.

The commission will meet at 6:30 p.m., Wednesday, May 9 in Room 2 of the Benicia Community Center, located at 370 East L St.

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