This message is from: Marsha Jo Hannah <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Jon & Mary Ofjord <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Do you allow barn swallows to nest in the barn? We just put up our > new barn (If you build it, they will come) and almost immediately a > couple barn swallows started putting up a nest [...] I have heard > that the birds can carry lice that can fall onto horses and cause > problems, not to mention the droppings on everything. [...] I > realize the birds do a great service by eating insects, but does > that benefit outweigh the potential problems?
A couple of weeks ago, my husband and his buddy went turkey hunting. In the process of plucking the bird, both guys ended up with turkey lice crawling around on them. The buddy (a professor of fish and wildlife at OSU) said that bird lice won't bite a mammal---they just give you "the willies", crawling around on you. I suspect that they might cause an equine to rub itself, but that's about it. Barns seem to be irresistable to swallows. I tend to knock down nests that are in inconvenient places (like over doors), or put up 1/2" netting to make such areas inaccessable. Otherwise, the swallows are welcome. I like watching them dip and swoop, and I like the reduction in bugs (like mosquitos) that they cause. For comparison, go look up all the diseases that mosquitos can carry.... Marsha Jo Hannah Murphy must have been a horseman-- [EMAIL PROTECTED] anything that can go wrong, will! 15 mi SW of Roseburg, Oregon
