By: Jasmine Velazquez & Gabriela Angel
El Monte City School District (EMCSD) is turning to the skies to combat a growing gopher population at schools. Durfee, Gidley, Rio Hondo, and Rio Vista schools, along with Jeff Seymour Family Center have begun a unique and eco-friendly initiative that relies on birds of prey to keep gophers at bay. Pocket gophers, while small, can cause significant problems that can impact critical habitats, threaten native plants and animals, and cause extensive property damage.
Instead of turning to harmful chemicals or traps to manage the gopher population, EMCSD’s Maintenance team built custom perches and owl boxes to attract their natural predators. “The perches are a great way to attract raptors such as Red Tail Hawks,” explained Gerardo Torres, EMCSD Maintenance and Operations Manager. “We had witnessed a hawk picking up a gopher from our field at Rio Hondo; I thought, what if we could have hawks work the day shift and owls work the graveyard shift for 24-hour service?” Mr. Torres also attended a conference about eco-friendly green spaces and the Healthy School Act, where he found resources to help with this plan.
Birds of prey play a crucial role in keeping the ecosystem balanced by helping control rodent populations like gophers. By giving them a place to live and hunt, EMCSD protects school grounds and supports local wildlife. To implement this project, their maintenance team worked hard to build and install perches and owl boxes around school fields to create a safe space for their new winged partners. “Our administrators have been very supportive, and the maintenance team is excited about the project. We conducted a lot of research and found helpful resources to guide us. The main challenge will be attracting the owls to their potential new home.” said Mr. Torres.
Barn owls are nocturnal hunters and incredibly skilled at catching gophers. An adult barn owl can catch 10-12 gophers each night during nesting season, and a single family of barn owls can eat about 3,000 gophers in a year. With such impressive hunting abilities, owls are vital in the district’s strategy to manage the gopher population.
Since their installation in early October, EMCSD has seen hawks, turkey vultures, and falcons appear at the five schools. “I would love to see them at all school sites eventually,” said Mr. Torres. “We picked the five sites that needed nature’s support the most.” Although EMCSD has not seen owls in the boxes, there is evidence they are around. Owl pellets have been found by custodial and maintenance crews, and upon examination, they found fur and bones in them.
“This is our first-ever EMCSD partnership with our feathery friends!” said Mr. Torres. “They need a quiet, undisturbed space, so we tried to set them in low-traffic areas where they can flourish. I feel this can be a great learning experience for our kids. We even thought of mounting a camera in the boxes to be able to monitor them.”
EMCSD hopes to see owls begin nesting as the winter months come. Until then, students and families can see other birds of prey hunting around their fields throughout the day when fields are not in use for school activities.
