Cabinetmaker Tuck Contreras (right) discusses birdhouses with Dave Case, an orchardist in Chelan, Washington, while Mike Wacker of The Dalles, Oregon, inspects an owl box. Orchardists in the Pacific Northwest are installing owl boxes in the hope that owls will help control gophers, but it can take time for the birds to move in. Ray Fuller, an organic grower at Chelan, Washington, who spends a considerable amount of time trapping gophers, bought four owl boxes this year. His orchard is surrounded by natural habitat. Without some kind of control, the gophers would inflict serious damage on his orchard, he said. […]