“It's like a ‘Wow’ situation.”
Chet Anderson has been a valued MBCP volunteer since 2021, monitoring American Barn Owl nest boxes with the Farmland Raptor Program (FRP). But the story of Chet’s connection to barn owls begins much earlier—back in the 1970s when Chet worked as a veterinarian at horse farms in central Maryland. Chet’s contribution to barn owl conservation began about 15 years ago with the Owl Moon Raptor Center in Montgomery County, where he served on the board and began helping to install and monitor nest boxes.
Chet Anderson and his granddaughters Emily and Rachel holding barn owl chicks.
Farmland Raptor Program manager Andy Brown learned about Chet’s legendary status in the community from his wife, Kitti Virts, who grew up in the area. Chet was her family’s veterinarian when she was a little girl. According to Kitti, Chet’s kind, gentle manner made him one of the most admired veterinarians in the community.
Chet’s gracious charisma continues to be a force of nature. According to Andy, the relationships Chet has developed with farmers through barn owls has been a key in the success of the Farmland Raptor Program. Andy sat down with Chet to capture his historical knowledge of nesting barn owls in central Maryland.
A Chat with Chet
Andy: Tell me about the first time you saw a barn owl.
Chet: My first barn owl was in the fall of 1972. I was working on the horses, and there was an open, old silo there. And I looked up and I said, ‘Oh, my God!’ It just shocked me to see his face looking down at me.
Andy: In your experience, from the mid-1970s until now, what kind of changes have you seen?
Chet: A lot of the farms that I was going to, back in the 70s, were still milking cows, right? But all of a sudden, the cows were sold, the silos started just standing there open, like they have for the last 30 or 40 years. That’s when the barn owls probably were at their peak. That’d be my guess.
Andy: In your estimate, how many farms do you think actually had barn owls in their silos back in the early 80s? What percentage would you say?
Chet: Thirty or forty percent, and that’s a guess. No gospel here.
Andy: Wow. Do you feel like the barn owl population has declined significantly now compared to then?
Chet: I know it's declined because you got the data, but I don't think there was ever a lot of them. I've always felt I was lucky when I did see them.
Andy: In the late 2010s, you worked with Tom Humphrey, a raptor bander here in Frederick who installed quite a few boxes for the Owl Moon Raptor Center. When I came to Frederick in 2021, both you and Tom began helping with FRP. Tell me about your role in that nest box project?
Chet: Just watching and seeing—I wasn't going to go up on the ladder. Plus, I knew just about all the people that we eventually went to throughout the years.
Andy: Those were landowners that you had done work for—treating their livestock.
Chet: Mainly done work for, yeah, or knew them socially.
Andy: You schedule all of FRP’s visits with the landowners, which we greatly appreciate. Do you have any advice for how to convince landowners to allow us to put a box up? Why having barn owls on your farm is a good thing?
Chet: I just think most people realize that we’re doing something that’s kind of fun. And then you watch what happens if they get an owl, then it’s a whole lot of fun! I do think it's a good thing. Nature's still got a foothold, right? With everything going on, all the farms that went away, you still have those little rascals plugging along.
Andy: It's like an indicator that the environment is still somewhat healthy, right?
Chet: You speak it well.
Andy: What gives you joy from participating in this program?
Chet: It’s a good way to get out and see people. But once again, the bird, the bird, the owl, is the key. I like seeing them, knowing they're still around. I'm going to get a kick out of it for the rest of my life. It's like a ‘Wow’ situation.
I'll tell you--that place up in Middletown where the old gentleman is winding down now? A short time after you’d put that nest box up—Dag-gone! Barn owls came! That was neat. Yeah, I got a kick out of it. Keep it up, Mr. Brown. Keep it up!