By Bonnie Hale

Wildlife Rescue Inc. and Hidden Villa Farm in Los Altos Hills became environmental education partners July 30 when four adult barn owls were released in front of 25 urban-bound children who had started their first day of Farm & Wilderness Camp.

Hidden Villa officials hope that the owls, all rescued by members of the community and rehabilitated by Wildlife Rescue’s raptor team, will help control the farm’s gopher population.

Certified since 1987 by the California Certified Organic Farmers, Hidden Villa is dedicated to conservative farm practices and in recent years has expanded its farming areas in the lower fields, where two of the owls were released.

By eating mice, rats, gophers and moles, experts say barn owls are much more effective in controlling rodents than poisons. Young owls can eat up to a dozen mice, and adults can consume a large rat or gopher per night or early morning. For this reason, the birds are considered economically desirable and have earned respect from informed farmers and biologists.

A sizable number of barn owl deaths are due to eating poisoned rodents, one of the reasons why they arrive at Wildlife Rescue.

As two of the young campers released the birds, fellow campers let out an enthusiastic cheer.

For more information about Wildlife Rescue, look up www.batnet.com/wildlife/ on the Internet. For more information about Hidden Villa, look up www.hiddenvilla.org.

Hale, of Mountain View, is a volunteer with Wildlife Rescue.