Photo: Kyle Bray/WBZ NewsRadio
CHELMSFORD, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) — Residents and kids helped a local rescue decorate large bird houses for owls at Chelmsford Farmer’s Market on Saturday.
The Save Chelmsford Wildlife hosted the “Owl Box Project,” where volunteers of the group will install the finished bird houses throughout the city that will serve as safe nesting places for the local raptor wildlife.
Derek Soohoo, founder of the Rescue Raptors, told WBZ NewsRadio that while rat poison and rodenticides are effective ways to curb rat population, it can actually be harmful to native raptor wildlife.
Birds like owls, eagles, and hawks hunt mice and rodents as food. If those preys are laced with the pesticides, “then they get poisoned, eventually die or have a little heart conditions,” Soohoo said.
The Save Chelmsford Wildlife advocates for safer, non-toxic pest control and spreads awareness on protecting raptors to other communities.
“[The movement] is actually growing in numbers right now,” he said, adding that nearly 80 other communities are now involved.
He said he hopes more community events, like the "Owl Box Project," will teach and inspire kids to become the next generation of wildlife advocates.
"It’s actually really important for children to figure out the stuff we’re learning now as adults too, [like] how they can save wildlife,” he said.
WBZ NewsRadio's Kyle Bray (@KyleBrayWBZ) reports.