Why the PVC Pipe?

After the Burrowing Owls took up residence, another problem surfaced.  Properties in Cape Coral were sold to people all over the world, especially Germany.  It wasn't very easy for property owners to keep the grass and weeds from growing wild and the properties were getting overgrown. In the early days of the City, property lines weren't well marked so hiring a gardener to care for the properties wasn't easy either. 

The solution to the problem was that the City purchased huge lot mowing machines to keep these vast tracts of land tidy.  They billed the residents for the work and everyone was happy.  That is except Florida Wildlife Commission and the Burrowing Owls.

Burrowing Owls blend in very well with the brown sandy soil and the vegetation.  The lot mowers, who where high up in a cab, couldn't very well see these little birds who are about the size of a soda can.  The burrows were being crushed and something had to be done about it.  The City Planning Technician at the time, Susan Scott, a tireless advocate for the Burrowing Owl, began marking the burrows with wooden stakes and putting up T-perches up for the Owls. With thousands of burrows in the City this was a monumental task. 

After the burrows were staked, another problem arose.  The weeds and grass inside the marked areas became overgrown.  Burrowing Owls do not like vegetation around their burrows, so the overgrown burrows were abandoned.

Susan put an ad in the newspaper looking for volunteers to help mark and maintain the burrows. 

Just around that time, my husband and I moved into Cape Coral, and me, being the early bird (no pun intended) would travel around the City exploring my new home.  While riding down one of the side streets, I noticed a small little bird sitting on the ground near the road.  Nearby was a sign indicating it was a protected Burrowing Owl site.  Being from the northeast, I had never heard of or seen a Burrowing Owl. 

When I read the ad in the paper, my curosity was peaked and I attended the first meeting, which was held at a picnic table in Jaycee Park.  This meeting was the core group that was to later become Cape Coral Friends of Wildife.

Our job initially was to take an assigned area of town and keep the burrows trimmed of excess vegetation and to locate and mark the burrows.  If you know anything about the speed at which vegetation grows here in Florida, you will understand why this could be a full time job. 

Another problem we found was that the inexpensive pine stakes we used to mark the burrows did not last for very long in the wet Florida rainy season.  One of the members of Cape Coral Friends of Wildlife was able to secure a donation of PVC pipe from Stucky Well Drilling, and we were able to permanently mark the burrow sites.

So that is the story of why Cape Coral has PVC pipes on many of the empty lots.

Can you spot the Owl in this photo?