Spring arrived in beautiful fashion this week in Butler County with weather in the 50 degree range. I can’t guarantee how long that will last, but it does give me hope that the ice will melt off the lakes and ponds.

We have a highway cleanup project on March 29th, a trout stocking on April 7th and nest box cleaning this weekend…so I don’t want to see any more winter weather! Nesting box cleaning is always an adventure around my house and in my neighborhood as well.

Just because you plan on a specific species using your box doesn’t mean that they will be the residents each year.

There’s a lot of competition for nesting sites and many a battle takes place for anything that is available.

The PGC has available a booklet that gives detailed instructions for wildlife enthusiasts to build and place nesting habitat in your own neighborhoods or in suitable wildlife areas.

You can also find plans on line or copy tried and true designs that wildlife prefer.

I have an old shed that is like a magicians hat…in the same year I have seen raccoon, groundhogs, possums, rabbits and feral cats come out of the same scooped out entry way.

Don’t ask me who lives there…it may be a critter hotel.

The fact is that certain locations are preferred habitat for a number of reasons and the competition is keen.

Wildlife always seeks safety and security for themselves and their young.

Sad, but true is the fact that it is a harsh world out in the wilds even if it is your backyard.

When they talk about the food chain or pecking order it is most evident in the animal world. The things that attract wildlife to an area also attract predators and competing species. It is never more evident than when you see birds trying to claim a territory. They compete with their own species and with other species of birds as well. One bird box that we have had for years is like a Battle Royale for bluebirds, tree swallows, sparrows, and wrens.

Each year the bird pair that wins out can change but we do keep an eye out for the invasive house sparrows and remove their nests as they are highly destructive to all other species of bird life.

When I need to check out the big boxes out is when I can be most surprised! Opening up their cleanout doors is like no other experience. Sometimes you don’t always find things right away…other times you can get a mad rush out of any open holes including the one that you are peering into!

Mice are always a given for some boxes as they like the dry bedding materials like sawdust or wood shavings as a warm nesting area start.

One box that I never have to worry about mice being in it is one that screech owls prefer to nest.

It was originally planned for wood ducks and a few hatches occurred as planned, but over the years the owls made the box their own home and the ducks moved on to new sites.

Sometimes you will find the remains of egg shells that help you determine if nesting occurred.

If you are not the carpenter type many wildlife homes can be purchased at local businesses, on line through the PGC and many other sites.

Time is of the essence now and I would check out Zanella’s, Agway, Oesterlings’ or the Bird Store in Slippery Rock for some ideas and homes.

You may need to buy some boxes, wood shavings, saw dust, attachment hardware, and remember to bring a ladder and proper tools.

I do wear heavy gloves and bring a small trowel when I am reaching around in a wildlife house.

It gives you some extra help in cleaning out the box and keeps critters off your skin as well.

Keep in mind that you want to be aware of locations as you set a nesting box. To near a roadway may cause a collision with automobiles and a killed animal parent. Keep in mind that placing boxes too close to each other is also a territorial thing and that predator guards are important to consider for climbing and flying carnivores.

One last thing to consider is that you do not want to paint your boxes with bright eye catching colors, natural settings are usually muted colors and hidden away from obvious attention. Consider all things when you decide to help wildlife find a new home, they have the tendency to place nests in really odd places. When you do have the cooperation of a new animal family in your location please leave them alone! Checking on them will only bring predators to them or even drive off the parents because they are disturbed by the too frequent visits by humans.

Jay Hewitt is an outdoors columnist for the Butler Eagle.