“Poo Poo Project” Implemented in Cody
Written by Andrew-Rossi on December 21, 2017
The birds around Cody are a little safer this week, after two organizations collaborated to cover the vent pipes of vault toilets to prevent birds from becoming trapped.
Last week the Cody High School Outdoor Club worked with the City of Cody to install ten pipe screens on the toilet vault vents at Beck Lake Park. The action came after a City of Cody employee became inspired by the “Poo Poo Project” that was created by the Teton Raptor Center in Jackson.
Project Coordinator David Watson told Penny Preston with KULR-8 News that many birds, particularly raptors, can get trapped in the vents of vault toilets when looking for a home – and once trapped, they can’t get out, and they die. So they created an inexpensive screen to cover the vents, and began selling them around the country.
Eric Asay, Parks and Pathways Supervisor for the City of Cody, says he heard about the project through the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, and the City purchased ten for the facilities at Beck Lake Park. The City reached out to Dean Olenik, head of the Outdoor Club at the High School, to collaborate on the installation. Asay says it didn’t take long for the students with the Outdoor Club to find out first hand why the screens are important.
Watson says they’ve sold over 10,000 of the screens to locations in all 50 states and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
