Gravette girl gives hoot about the environment

GRAVETTE - A local Girl Scout, with assistance from her grandfather, has completed a most unusual project.

Rachel Jones, a member of Gravette Girl Scout Troop 5497, recently constructed an owl box and installed it on a tree along the Gravette Wildlife Observation Trail.

The project fulfills part of the requirements toward her earning a Girl Scout Gold Award. The program requires a two year commitment with at least 100 hours of community service. The project she chose must be sustainable after her graduation from Gravette High School, where she is a sophomore.

Rachel is the daughter of Dr. Nancy and Larry Jones.

She has a great interest in the environment, said Dr. Jones, who is her Gold Award project adviser.

In the months ahead, she will be trying to promote more owl, bird and wildlife habitat projects and will also be making educational signs to post, promoting wildlife.

Constructed of weather-resistant cedar wood, the 23 x 13-inch owl box is designed to be a nesting site for the nocturnal barred owl. Time will tell if the box is chosen as home for little owlets to hatch during the next nesting period or at a later time.

She said, after the boards were cut, it took her about five hours to assemble it and then install it about 12 feet up on the tree trunk. Although she said she is not afraid of heights, her dad carried it up the ladder and attached it with his power screw driver.

Assembling the house was one of the hardest parts of the project but, she added, it was hard to get the Girl Scout Council to approve the project.

“It took them two months to approve it,” she said.

Experts advise that owls are skittish birds. Persons observing an owl at the nesting site are encouraged to keep a distance and not disturb the fowl which has for its diet rodents, snakes and other similar creatures.

News, Pages 4 on 07/31/2013