The Problem
Anticoagulant rodenticides, or rat poison, are very harmful to the environment, as the poison often gets passed up the food chain, killing local mountain lions, hawks, and even pets.
Our Plan
Owls serve as natural rodent repellants. Therefore, building owl boxes (birdhouses for owls) can help prevent the use of rat poison. After we built these owl boxes, our school removed rat poison from campus.
Themes Addressed
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Animal Welfare
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Wildlife
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The Benefit
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Animals
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Environment
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Here is how the project went:
The project went super well! We built a total of four owl boxes, and the school helped us install them. They also removed the rodenticides from campus.
Through this project I/we learned:
We learned that we can make positive change in our community. Owl boxes had long been talked about as a solution to the rodenticide problem, and CHS Roots & Shoots decided to finally take initiative and build them.
What I/we might change:
If we did this project again, we might make more boxes so that we can install them in different locations besides just our school.
My/our favorite part of this project was:
Our favorite part of the project was the construction of the boxes. Many club members did not have experience using tools, and it was fun to learn how to use drills and other tools. It was fulfilling to see the planks of wood transform into owl boxes through our own construction.
Some tips, tricks or fun facts about the project:
One tip is to read over the construction instructions carefully before even buying the material, as there are often a lot of important details that you need to be aware of before building the boxes.
