Vent Screen Installed – Photo Credit: Lewis Young

by Lewis Young, Conservation Chair

Last spring the FAS Board of Directors approved the purchase of 10 vent screens that prevent the entrapment and death of birds and bats in outhouses. Studies across the West have shown that large numbers of birds, especially cavity-nesting species such as bluebirds and small owls, are frequently trapped and die because they enter the vent pipes to explore the potential cavities, then can’t get back up the slick sided vent pipes.

Dereck DeShazer with Vent Screen - Photo Credit: Lewis Young
Dereck DeShazer with Vent Screen – Photo Credit: Lewis Young

In July, Kootenai National Forest wildlife technician Dereck DeShazer (in photo) and I installed the FAS purchased vent screens on Forest Service outhouse vents in the Eureka area. The Forest Service has an ongoing program to screen all their vent pipes and the FAS vent screens helps get closer to that goal and reduce the number of birds being entrapped.