Students head improvements at Blue Oak Ranch Preserve

• “They provide shelter and food for native animals. The native animals are as important as the native plants.”
• “They are not blind. Their eyesight is probably as good as ours.”
• “These preserves belong to the community.”

SPRINGVILLE – -- Brennan McGinn says he kept in mind the old carpenters adage when building bat boxes installed at the Blue Oak Ranch Preserve Saturday.

“Measure twice, cut once,” he said.

In total, McGinn, a senior at Hanford West High School, built six boxes that can serve as shelter for as many as 250 California brown bats. Building and installing the boxes is another project at the preserve, owned and managed by the Sequoia Riverlands Trust.

Bud Darwin, education and volunteer director at the trust, said the boxes will help study and document the bat population. Previous projects at the preserve have included restoration of natural plants and trees and study of reptiles there.

“They provide shelter and food for native animals,” he said. “The native animals are as important as the native plants.”

Ideas for projects can come from what the preserve needs or what volunteers and teachers are interested in. Darwin said SRT works with students from Tulare and Kings counties.

“There is a lot to do,” he said.

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On Saturday, students from Monache High School helped reinforce a gate along the preserve’s fence line

Earlier in the day, the bat boxes were installed. After digging a six-fool hole, volunteers secured the boxes to a pole using a brace and screws. Two boxes were installed around a small pond and another one on the trunk of an oak tree.

McGinn said he wanted to build the bat boxes to give the flying creature a warm place to live. He said he used animal-safe materials, including mesh to allow the bats to climb in, during construction.

“Bats are good for the ecosystem,” he said. “They keep the mosquito and insect population down.”

Darwin said bats are warm-blooded mammals and live in large groups to keep cozy during cold spells. The California brown bats are small and can easily fit into the built boxes, he said.

“We will come out in a year from now and monitor the population,” he said. “It will take them a year to move in completely.”

During his research, McGinn said he found information debunking a myth related to bats.

“They are not blind,” he said. “Their eyesight is probably as good as ours.”

Darwin said bats use sonar to locate items, including food, as they fly and move around.

During the project, students learn skills such as critical thinking and problem solving, Darwin said.

“They identify a problem, try to find a solution, find if the solution is feasible,” he said. “Those are life skills.”

Students also get a chance to communicate and interact with field experts and learn from them, Darwin said.

The projects completed at preserves, including Kaweah Oaks and Blue Oak Ranch, are also a way to find those who are interested in becoming good stewards of the environment.

After a project is completed, the preserve’s infrastructure is improved and gets closer to being open to the public, Darwin said. In total, the trust, in partnership with other local agencies, has 10 preserves around the county. Blue Oak Ranch Preserve is next to SCICON near Springville.

Darwin said the goal is to open the preserves to the public.

“These preserves belong to the community,” he said.