Hi Maia and All,
In our local paper, the Riverside Press-Enterprise, this morning was an
article I thought some of you might find interesting.
In an article titled "Wineries", it says (in part):

"Across Riverside and San Bernardino counties, wine grape growers are
increasingly moving away from pesticides and marshaling the forces of
nature to do battle against a wide range of insects and rodents that devour
everything from the roots of the vines to the sweet, succulent fruit that
keeps area wineries in business.

'It's biological warfare,' said Craig Weaver of Callaway Vineyards in
Temecula . 'We're using what the good Lord gave us to fight off these
things.' And nature's arsenal has a natural predator for just about
everything. Weaver recalls that in the old days, Callaway used to control
gophers with traps and strychnine. But just keeping up with the traps each
day can be pretty labor-intensive, he said. And what about mice, rats,
squirrels, and rabbits ?

Callaway found a natural way to control these rodents by luring owls and
redtailed hawks to its vineyards with roosting boxes and perches. These
accommodations not only give the birds a place to rest, but a terrific view
of the vineyards and any rodents that happen to be in the area.

The Joseph Filippi Winery in Rancho Cucamonga uses hawks and owls, too,
though most of its birds roost in the eucalyptus trees that were planted in
the area as windbreaks many years ago. "

Apparently these vineyards are turning to "organic gardening" !

Cathi Tomsen
tomscar at lasercom.net
Hemet, CA