The BBC is running a story today showcasing an innovative and, well, on the nose way of rooting out the problem of crop-eating rodents with minimal effects on the local predatory bird population. This approach has also been successful in killing pests without contaminating the food supply with harsh chemicals.

It seems that the pesticides used to kill the rodents–and fill the crops with tasty chemicals for human consumption–has been also causing a drop in population of  the winged creatures. Groups in Israel in cooperation with nonprofits based in Jordan and Palestine had an “ah-ha!” moment of sorts, and decided to cut out the middleman (the harmful pesticides). They’ve begun supporting a program that uses the predatory birds–mostly owls–to control the rodent population in farming areas.

According to the BBC, there has been quite a push to lessen the use of pesticides in the Israeli farming industry, and this much more natural approach is being applauded across the region. Would love to see how we in the US can start employing more natural and, in this case, more rationally thought out ways to grow the food that we eat.