Austin is home to people from all walks of life and each individual comes with a different story. In People of Pease Park, we highlight people that make Austin’s green space the dynamically vibrant place we know and love.
Marshall May has a passion for creating homes for Eastern Screech Owls and he installed 30 of his hand-made screech owl boxes in Pease Park. We are thrilled for Pease Park to be a sanctuary for these beautiful creatures and we appreciate Marshall’s expertise.
Mary Tipps made this owl house project possible and we are so grateful to her for her generous support of this project and of Pease Park Conservancy.
PPC: Marshall, tell us about your hand-made screech owl homes.
Here’s my screech owl box. It’s 23 inches tall. It’s cat proof because it’s such a long drop to come down. And, I’ve built something here to last 30+ years. I’ve sealed up all the holes, put 40 year caulk on the seams, and glued all the knots. So, they should last 30+ years. I won’t be around to see the end of them, but at least I’ll know they (the owls and their homes) are still there.
PPC: And, tell us about the ventilation you have added to the box for the owls? And how it makes it different from other boxes?
Yes, this is the air system I designed (at the bottom of the owl house). It has drain holes, air holes, and an LVHV slot - which is 'low volume of higher velocity air’ - this basically means that more air can get out than can get in, so it comes in quicker and moves the air. That’s how we cooled computers down in the early 80s when there were no fans for them.
PPC: It’s not necessary to take your owl houses down and clean them right? The owls take care of all that for us?
They don’t leave any material at all. As a matter of fact, I took one down after 14 years in my backyard and it was as clean as the day I put it up. They have to roll up the baby poop and fly it way off to keep raccoons from smelling them and killing them… eating them for dinner.
Yeah, it’s Mother Nature doing its thing.
I’ve been doing these for a year an a half now. I’ve put up, so far, 372 (owl houses). So, this is my dream come true. A sanctuary in Pease Park for Screech Owls - agh - I’m elated.
