 |
|
 |
September 22, 2006
Ventura County Star
Landfill courts raptors with owl boxes, perches
by Linda Massarella
The Simi Valley landfill is wooing hungry owls, eagles and hawks as part of its environmentally friendly plan to rid the area of rodents.
Eight new owl boxes and five raptor perches have been placed at the county's largest landfill in hopes of attracting the birds. "I saw a hawk the other day," site manager Scott Tignac said. "They're starting to circle. It's a fact, when you build it, they come."
The boxes and perches were installed around the Madera Road site Sept. 6 to attract the rodents' natural predators. Tignac said he also removed all the bait boxes, filled with lethal poison to control the mice and rat population, so the birds will be safe.
Waste Management communications director Eric Rose said the company, which runs the Simi site, is phasing out bait boxes at all its landfills across the country because poison may get into the food chain.
"We could have animals eat poisoned rodents, and pass it on. We're going green; it's better for everybody," Rose said.
The owl boxes and perches in the Simi Valley site were built by John Casselberry, a 14-year-old Boy Scout, as one of his projects to advance to Eagle Scout. "I was looking for a project, and I heard about this one," said Casselberry, a freshman at Simi Valley High.
It took Casselberry five months to build the plywood owl boxes and perches. He said he carefully studied the best size and placement of the boxes to attract barn owls. A barn owl does not build its own nest and typically lives in abandoned buildings.
A family of barn owls can consume more than 1,000 mice during the nesting season. Casselberry said the owl boxes - which have air holes, drainage openings and an observation door on the side to allow for research and cleaning - were a lot more difficult to construct than the perches.
"It was a lot of work, but it was really satisfying," Casselberry said. He said Waste Management supplied him with the materials, his father helped him measure and cut the wood, and his troop, 622, helped him install them all at the landfill.
Casselberry, who wants to study international law and perhaps go into politics, still has to write about the project and submit it to the Eagle Scout committee before he makes the prestigious rank. Troop 622 Scout Master Brian Glassman said the environmental project is what Boy Scouts are all about. "John is a very committed kid. I'm proud of him and all of the boys," he said.
Waste Management's Tignac said that although he is seeing more hawks and falcons visiting the area since the perches were installed, the barn owl has yet to make an appearance. "If they don't come by themselves, we have a plan to bring them here," he said.
Tignac said he has the call out to rescue groups and other agencies to deliver the owls and introduce them to the new habitat that awaits.
- Linda Massarella's e-mail is -massarellalinda@yahoo.com
# # #
|
|
|
|
