Eagle Scout project to provide two new homes for owls in Salem
Waterworth Memorial Park will be the site of two new owl houses due to the efforts of Eagle Scout candidate Aaron Rea. Shown from left are Troop 2006 Assistant Scout Master Rhonda Rea, Parks Director Kelli Pastore, Deon Inghersoll, Derek Spitzer, and Aaron Rhea. (Photo by Morgan Ahart)
Veritas Construction Inc. donated their time and labor to complete trenching work for underground internet and camera cables for the owl boxes. (Photo by Morgan Ahart)
Waterworth Memorial Park will be the site of two new owl houses due to the efforts of Eagle Scout candidate Aaron Rea. Shown from left are Troop 2006 Assistant Scout Master Rhonda Rea, Parks Director Kelli Pastore, Deon Inghersoll, Derek Spitzer, and Aaron Rhea. (Photo by Morgan Ahart)
Veritas Construction Inc. donated their time and labor to complete trenching work for underground internet and camera cables for the owl boxes. (Photo by Morgan Ahart)
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SALEM -- Owls will have two new homes in Salem's parks as the result of an Eagle Scout project.
Aaron Rea, a 15-year-old Eagle Scout candidate from Boy Scout Troop 2006, has been working on a project which will offer homes for four different types of owls in Columbiana County for the last year. The project will see eight eagle houses installed across Columbiana County for four types of native owls, the eastern screech owl, barn owl, great horned owl, and barred owl, including two set to be installed at Waterworth Memorial Park at the Salem Rotary Family Sports Center.
Aaron said that the owl boxes being installed at Memorial Park were fitted with cameras by Gary Weikart of 21st Century Alarm Data Inc. that would allow anyone to follow the journey of any owls nesting inside.
Parks Director Kelli Pastore said that the cameras would be connected to the internet through buried cables like the city's security camera system, and that a live feed from the cameras would be posted to the city's website and the parks department's Facebook page. The trenching work to install underground cables was completed by Veritas Construction Inc., which donated its labor and equipment at no cost.
"We're very thankful for all of their help with this project," Pastore said.
Aaron said that when he began researching his Eagle Scout project, he knew that he wanted to do something which would benefit local animal populations, and that since he enjoyed building things and carpentry, some type of roosting box was a natural fit.
"I wanted to make sure it was something an animal could live and be safe in," Aaron said.
Aaron said that prior to deciding on owl boxes he considered building bat or bee boxes but found that the parks department already had both when he presented the idea to the parks commissioners. Once the decision was made to build owl boxes, Aaron researched the habitats, seasonal behaviors and the sizes and growth rates of native owl species to ensure the boxes met their needs before building them with the assistance of his grandfather.
"There's a lot of things you have to consider like what direction [the box] is facing and how far apart they need to be for different species territorial boundaries," Aaron said.
Aaron said that two owl boxes had also been donated to the Beaver Creek Wildlife Education Center, and that the rest had been installed at Scenic Vista Park in Lisbon.