HOOT stands for Help Our Owls Thrive!Mission
The HOOT Group’s mission is to reduce the rodent population in University Hills using ecologically sound sustainable integrated pest management (IPM) practices.
This includes the following:
- remove poison bait boxes and replace with enclosed snap traps
- attract barn owls to our community by installing a series of nesting boxes
- reduce harborage areas (remove dense ground covers such as ivy and thickly matted shrubs like bougainvillea), and replace with low water use natives
- remove food sources for rodents
- replace open trash containers with wildlife proof ones
- encourage ICHA and Uhills residents to harvest fruits and nuts as they ripen
- educate through community gatherings, email communications and web page content
- encourage ICHA and Uhills residents to work together on creating a resilient community with shared values and actions surrounding rodent management
Accomplishments
- eliminated the use of rodenticides in 166 bait stations throughout the common areas of UHills
- asked ICHA to label boxes so residents know which ones contain snap traps and which contain poison (insert link to photo)
- installed 4 barn owl nesting boxes in the neighborhood to increase the population of this efficient rodent predator (see the OUR FOCUS section for information about the owl boxes)
- participated in community gatherings to inform UHills neighbors about the environmental hazards posed by rodenticides
- collaborated with stakeholders (neighbors, HRB, ICHA, UCI, City of Irvine) to inform decision making
- assisted neighbors with potential secondary pet poisoning issues
- Uhills kids got involved!! Through bake sales, the HOOT kids raised the funds to purchase a borescope camera for easy viewing inside the nest boxes
- worked with neighborhood high school students to create an ongoing nesting box monitoring program
- inspired other Irvine neighborhoods to eliminate the use of rat poisons and install barn owl nesting boxes
Goals
- install several more barn owl nesting boxes
- continue to urge ICHA to transition to wildlife proof trash cans throughout UHills (especially in park BBQ gathering areas)
- obtain a map of the current locations of the snap and bait stations throughout UHills and post on web page
- involve UCI students in future efforts
- collect data on rat activity on our web page to inform the ongoing integrated pest management protocols
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continue to campaign for ICHA remove ivy and other dense vegetation from slopes of common areas in UHills in order to reduce harborage (hiding places)
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host more educational events to update neighbors on our progress