The photo of the barn owls that I'm using for my avatar are real live barn owls that live in my barn. Barn owls are incredibly skilled rodent hunters, so having your own personal barn owls is a great benefit. They're far more effective than cats, coyotes, traps, and poisons, and a lot safer. You can attract your own barn owls by building them a nice house and putting it in a quiet, protected location. There are instructions all over the web, just google on "barn owl box".