Barn owls continue to disappear as the old farm buildings and rough grass fields on which they depend for nesting and hunting become so rare. They are traditionally associated with human habitation and once thrived alongside our activities. But with the advent of modern steel and concrete farm buildings and the loss of small fields, hedgerows and hay meadows they are being driven out of our landscape.

They are nature’s great rat and mouse controllers, but are victims of the overuse of rodenticides, which poison the owls too.

If we could just step back a little from our over-zealous protection of our own immediate and narrow commercial interests and allow at least some space for other species to live and breathe, the inherent balance and beauty of natural processes could reassert themselves.

With Acton Community Forum