Baby owls hatch at Moss Landing restaurant

A popular Central Coast restaurant is taking an unusual step to get rid of rodents.

And instead of using typical rat poison.. The Haute Enchilada is taking
advantage of nature to solve the problem. The Haute Enchilada in moss landing is providing a house for barn owls outside the restaurant… and in return they are taking care of a rat problem. While the chicks are new….the barn owls have been used for two years now.

“I do feel like we have a responsibility to our environment. You know we need to be responsible and good stewards.”

Those are the words of Kim Solano… Owner of the Haute Enchilada. For her, it’s not just about serving food… But protecting the environment. And that has led her to eliminate the use of rat poison.

“Rodenticide. Yeah, traditional rodent pesticide control. I decided early on that I wanted to be greener in every aspect of my business… And it just seemed to be the right thing to do.” – Solano

So instead of rodent pesticides… she has owls do the job instead.

Zach McIntyre – KION reporter – “Alright, here we are just outside the restaurant and you can see we’ve got the house that the owls are living in right there. The mom is currently taking care of the cutest little owl babies you can find.”

Rebecca Dmytryk, owner of Humane Wildlife Control, “So we switched out,
we got her off anti coagulants… And we switched that out to something
that’s not going to hurt anything else and then we said, ‘why don’t we bring in some barn animals?’ and those will be your natural predators outside and that will help keep the population down.”

And inside of that little bird houseis a livecam.. Broadcasting to
YouTube and her restaurant.

“Well we are seeing Lotte, the female is nesting… sitting on her
eggs and protecting her two baby little chicks that were born this week.” – Solano

She says the guests love to come and watch… making them feel like part of
the family

Dann Reed, a customer of the restaurant says, “it’s just a cool place. It’s very easy to be here for a long time. I haven’t frequented the bar stools up there but I’m positive if I sat down I wouldn’t leave.”

The haute enchilada is hosting an event on April 26th to celebrate the birth of the chicks. Kids will have a chance to learn more about all this.

Inside the restaurant, a big screen tv broadcasts the live video from the nest. You can watch at home, too by clicking here.