Extraordinary Effort by Eagle Scout Tyler Mappe Helps Homeless Hawks
With the constant development of our region and less and less land for the wildlife that inhabits the Gulf Coast , wildlife rehabilitators are extremely busy with numerous animals that have had the bad luck to come in contact with humans or their vehicles. Eagle Scout Tyler Mappe had an idea for an Eagle Scout Project and he knew he wanted to help out with nature.
Tyler Mappe is a junior at Friendswood High School and a member of the Boy Scout Troop 445 in Friendswood. He is in the marching band and Jazz band and takes all Advanced classes. Tyler’s idea included a phone call to the local Bay Area Wildlife Rehabilitation organization,
www.bawr.org. Tyler called and asked, “I’m calling to find out how I can best help out wildlife?” Wildlife Rehabilitator Rhonda Murgatroyd answered him and explained that they had a dire need to build a big flight cage for hawks and owls but the project was too big and expensive.
The Wildlife Rehabilitators take care of wildlife that is in need until they can be released back into the wild and survive on their own, including injured and infant animals. Tyler had gotten the idea in his head and the size of the project would not sway him. He is a person that once he says he will do something he will finish what he starts. A perfectionist, Tyler built a model, about four feet high, of the flight cage he intended to built for Rhonda to see if a larger cage would work for her needs.
Rhonda was impressed and excited but she knew this project would be expensive and time consuming. Tyler had to go out in this uneasy economy and ask for donations to fund his project. Tyler found success with persistence and CenterPoint Energy along with the LyondellBassell Corporation donated funds. Lowe’s and Kilgore’s, both of League City donated materials for the project.
Rhonda approved the model, and with the funds and materials in place, Tyler got to work. The cage to be built was at built at Tyler’s house in Friendswood and then delivered in panels and reconstructed on site at Rhonda Murgatroyd’s house in the City of El Lago in the Clear Lake area.
Tyler’s project was a much larger project than a normal Eagle Scout project and the total cost was about eighteen hundred dollars not counting his volunteer time and labor. From beginning to end Tyler spent about six months of planning and labor to see the project and the dream come to fruition.
Rhonda Murgatroyd was thrilled with the results of Tyler’s project and exclaimed, “This young man worked very hard on this project. I am glad to see him get recognition because he desreves all of it. Since the cage was completed it has housed a fledgling Red Shouldered Hawk, nestling and fledgling Screech Owls, a litter of pupppies that somebody “graciously delivered” to me without my knowledge, and the main inhabitants have been up to seven fawns. There are still three fawns living in the flight cage that was intended for birds, but whatever it takes!”
The Boy Scouts of America are proud of Tyler Mappe and his accomplishment and representatives from CenterPoint and LyondellBassell met at Rhonda Murgatroyd’s house to take photos of the flight cage and to thank Tyler in person.
Tyler Mappe is a hero to the nature of the region and a fine example of what a young man should strive to be. He is determined, amazing, conscientious, and a friend to Hawks and Owls for many years to come.