Potawatomi Wildlife Park was recently the beneficiary of their 20th Eagle Project. In April Josh Carter, a Boy Scout from Troop 251 of Marshall County finished his Eagle Project. It involved researching, building and installing eight bat houses/boxes on the park.
The project involved researching the best bat box designs. A major resource was Bat Conservation International (www.batcon.org). BCI’s Bat House Research Project (1993-2004) conducted research on hundreds of bat houses and other artificial roosts. Their plans incorporate the most successful features identified in those tests.
Most other house designs found on the internet, including ones from many government websites, have faulty plans that create a living area that is too hot or cold for optimum survivability.
The BCI plans even include a range chart to determine what color to stain your Bat boxes depending on your location in North America. Darker color in northern regions, lighter in southern regions. The stain color dictates the amount of heat that is absorbed based on climate.
Mr. Carter supervised the installation of eight (8) houses on the park including two on each of the three osprey towers. He installed the remaining two on the director’s residence and on the nature center.
Potawatomi Wildlife Park has three other Eagle Scout projects planned for 2018 including a major 2-year project that is in its final weeks of completion.
