Has anybody in this area ever put up an owl box?

We often hear the owls at night on the farm, occasionally we see them too, then it can go quiet for a time and we’d hear no owls. It would be wonderful if we could encourage them to breed in the area – more owls will eat more mice and rats… of the latter we seem to have an unending supply, judging by the rate our 2 cats bring them in.

Putting up owl boxes can be a trying thing. The boxes stay unoccupied for ages, eventually one just despairs and stops paying attention. Next thing, an owl pair moves in…