Bat box is scout’s Eagle project

By Laura Fitzgerald
Posted 2/20/19

Noah Cabrera, Troop 4031 life scout, is giving local bats a helping hand through the installation of bat boxes throughout Montgomery.

Cabrera will install approximately 15 boxes for his eagle …

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Bat box is scout’s Eagle project

Posted

Noah Cabrera, Troop 4031 life scout, is giving local bats a helping hand through the installation of bat boxes throughout Montgomery.

Cabrera will install approximately 15 boxes for his eagle project, providing valuable nursery habitat for a beleaguered bat population. Cabrera approached the Montgomery town board on Feb. 7 to request permission to install about 10 boxes in Benedict Farm Park. Cabrera also plans to install one box in Riverfront Park in the Town of Montgomery, five in Walden and two in Maybrook.

Cabrera said each box will provide shelter for about 100 young bats or more, depending on the size of the box. According to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, bat populations have declined by about 90 percent across New York State since 2006 due to habitat loss and White Nose Syndrome—a fungal infection that has killed millions of bats across North America.

Bats are a valuable pollinator, reduce the spread of West Nile Virus, Zika virus and malaria by eating carrier insects. One bat can eat more than 1,000 mosquito-sized insects an hour and bats eat insect pests that save the U.S. agricultural industry billions of dollars annually.

According to a Boston University Study, bats may be extinct in New York by 2030.

Cabrera has always had an interest in environmental cleanup activities and wanted to do something when he learned of bats’ decline.

“My whole life, I’ve always had an interest in benefiting the environment,” Cabrera said.

Cabrera plans to have to boxes installed by April 31.
The project is one piece needed to achieve the William Hornaday Award, a conservation award that is one of scouting’s rarest honors with approximately 1,200 awarded in the past 100 years.

Cabrera and the Walden Humane Society will host a soup night fundraiser on Feb. 23 from 4 to 8 p.m. at the Brick Reformed Church. Proceeds will benefit the project. All you can eat soup, bread, drinks and dessert will be available for $8 per person. Visit the Human Society of Walden’s Facebook page to learn more.