27 September and another PPO talk

I love talking about Pot Plant Owl. And Pappa. And their sweet chicks. If you got me started, I bet I could even talk the hind leg off a donkey if given half a chance.

So it was right up my alley when I was guest speaker at a Ladies Luncheon with the subject heading 'Pot Plant Owl'.

Where do I even begin!

What makes each talk so rewarding are the comments I receive after the talk. People tell me their own owl stories; they share snippets of what goes on in their back yards. Sometimes I am asked questions - even after a long talk (surely you'd be sick of my voice by now?)

I thought that I'd do a little Q&A session here with some of the most common questions that I get:

1. Will you ever name 'her' (PPO)?
She is named - Pot Plant Owl / PPO and she also answers to Stinker sometimes (kidding)

2. How do I attract owls to my garden?
Honestly, it is hard for me to say. You can try owl boxes, but they may not work. Then I share the story of what happened to Allan and I when we first moved into our home. We had seen the owls flying around, and there were also a number of bats in the area. We called up a company that makes both bat and owl boxes, and couldn't decide which box to get. In the end we figured we'd help the bats and get a bat box (we reasoned that owls have trees they can use). And in the 8 years we've been in this house, we have never had one bat - not one - use the box. So when someone can tell me how to attract a bat, I will use their answer to assist you in attracting an owl.

3. Will you ever sell your house?
No. Never. Definitely not. But in the unlikely event that we do, we will have a clause in the sales contract to protect the owls and allow them exclusive use of the balcony and most of the rest of the garden for three months of the year -longer if they choose.

4. Is PPO tame? Is Pappa tame?
No they are not. Each year when one of us get hit on the head by their steely talons, we are reminded of this fact. For surely if the owls were tame and close to pets, we'd be saved from their silent attacks. And the funny thing: we like being hit on the head because it encourages us to do what we can to keep the owl wild and not habituated to humans - for their own protection.

5. Who clean the balcony after the owls are gone?
The person who drew the shortest straw. (And just what are the odds that Allan 'happens' to draw the shortest straw each year - wink). Seriously, it is smelly and messy and takes a lot of chemicals and elbow grease to clean it each year.

So there - now you have the answers to the most common questions. If you have any others, feel free to post them.