We're refining our ideas for building an owl colony at the moment, and in the mean time we're starting the fundraising part of our project. Everything's starting small, and expenses are adding up for our designing and editing. We sold our first round of donated items and owl-themed merchandise today at a community swap meet at our school. We've actually raised enough money to continue to expand our merchandise line, which we'll be selling to support local owl conservation groups.
The more we find out about burrowing owls, the more we're falling in love with them. There's wonderful pictures all over that show their sense of humor, and their expressive faces and silly poses. That's not all though. They can't build their own burrows, so they have to use abandoned homes of other animals. They're one of the most important species in our area, a key indicator species, and their drastic decline has already caused unspeakable damage in our ecosystems, ranging from decreased productivity and growth in pest populations to decreased resource cycling and decline in biodiversity. All in all, our environment is quickly destabilizing, thanks to the construction companies that defy faulty regulations to destroy important owl habitats. It's honestly unbelievable what they will do - they come and seal the owls into their burrows, cover the land with concrete, and destroy the ecosystem for every other species. To make matters worse, many companies don't even try to test for owls before building, and the laws still allow owls to die from exposure because they can be sealed out of their burrows. After the houses are built, it's too hard to prove whether the companies followed the laws of testing, and so this behavior is just going unchecked. I wish companies would have more of a sense of pride in their environment, rather than just in their business matters. If they felt compelled to protect these birds and the beauty of Southern California, maybe owls wouldn't be in this situation in the first place.
The more we find out about burrowing owls, the more we're falling in love with them. There's wonderful pictures all over that show their sense of humor, and their expressive faces and silly poses. That's not all though. They can't build their own burrows, so they have to use abandoned homes of other animals. They're one of the most important species in our area, a key indicator species, and their drastic decline has already caused unspeakable damage in our ecosystems, ranging from decreased productivity and growth in pest populations to decreased resource cycling and decline in biodiversity. All in all, our environment is quickly destabilizing, thanks to the construction companies that defy faulty regulations to destroy important owl habitats. It's honestly unbelievable what they will do - they come and seal the owls into their burrows, cover the land with concrete, and destroy the ecosystem for every other species. To make matters worse, many companies don't even try to test for owls before building, and the laws still allow owls to die from exposure because they can be sealed out of their burrows. After the houses are built, it's too hard to prove whether the companies followed the laws of testing, and so this behavior is just going unchecked. I wish companies would have more of a sense of pride in their environment, rather than just in their business matters. If they felt compelled to protect these birds and the beauty of Southern California, maybe owls wouldn't be in this situation in the first place.
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