Who? Who? Volunteers Aid Displaced Owls
March 29, 2006By CECILIA CHAN
The Arizona Republic
Bob Fox gently released a pint-size owl into a black mesh tent, where it fluttered nervously about and smacked into the sides.
For the next month, 10 western burrowing owls displaced by new development will call this man-made enclosure on Plaza del Rio Boulevard home.
"There's still a good population (of burrowing owls) in Arizona, but the numbers are diminishing," said Fox, co-founder of Wild at Heart, a non-profit Cave Creek group that rescues birds of prey.
Encouraging youth to take a stand for wildlife was the focus Saturday as Girl Scout troops, children, parents and environmental group volunteers built 64 artificial burrows in eight trenches, 4 1/2 feet deep.
"This is going to help the owls," said Danielle Rodzen, 12, of Peoria Girl Scouts Troop 601. "And it's going to bring more animal population into Arizona."
The project is part of a nationwide kickoff of the May 5 release of Hoot, a movie about three Florida middle-school children who fight a construction project to save a colony of burrowing owls.
"The Arizona Wildlife Federation is thrilled that we had an opportunity to help organize this event and a chance to work side by side with these great Girl Scouts, our nation's future conservationists," said Mary Jo Forman Miller, the group's president.
The National Wildlife Federation has teamed up with Walden Media and New Line Cinema on the project. A production crew was out on scene filming footage of the work to be used in educational outreach and promotion.
In Arizona, 2,000 acres of burrowing owls habitat are lost each year to development, especially around Phoenix and Tucson, officials said.
Madison Rowbotham of Troop 601 helped fashion the underground homes out of tubing, wire and five-gallon plastic buckets, where the owls will hopefully nest.
"I love animals, and it's really cool to rescue them," the 10-year-old Peoria girl said. "All animals should have a great home, and all animals should count."
The tent will stay in place for one month to keep the birds, one of the smallest species of owls, from flying away and to become accustomed to their new home. During that time, volunteers will change the water and feed frozen laboratory mice daily to the owls.
After that, the tent will be removed. By then there should even be some burrowing-owl eggs.
The nesting site is alongside a Maricopa County channel-widening project. Once completed, the county-owned land will be handed over to Peoria.
