New homes for museum's creatures

Many animals call the Tackapausha Museum and Preserve home, and local residents like Michael Boyle and Brian Faraczek ensure they have a good life there.

Boyle, 16, a Boy Scout from Troop 590 in Massapequa, recently spearheaded the construction of a turtle habitat at the Seaford nature center. The two-day project was completed the weekend of Sept. 12.

The following weekend, Wantagh’s Brian Faraczek, 17, and his team of volunteers assembled a habitat for screech owls. After doing some of the preliminary work at his house, they came together at the museum on Sept. 20 to create the animal enclosure.

Both boys did the work as their required community service projects to become Eagle Scouts. The two habitats were built in a new outdoor animal exhibit behind the museum that is expected to be completed by Thanksgiving and opened to the public in the spring.

Boyle built a 10-foot by 7-foot home for turtles. In search of a project, he went around the community, and when he got to Tackapausha, the staff gave him a list of several items they were looking to have completed. “I thought this one was the most worthwhile or would have the biggest impact,” he said of selecting the turtle habitat, adding that he believes it will benefit Tackapausha’s animal educational program.

Before Boyle could begin work, he had to raise about $600 for materials, including wood, rocks, mesh wire and a pond with a pump. He held a fundraiser at Burger King, and also received donations from Home Depot, as well as family and friends.

About 30 volunteers, mostly fellow Scouts and troop leaders, helped out on Sept. 12 and 13. Boyle assigned tasks and got a little dirty himself. In addition to building the habitat, a lot of time was spent digging the two-foot-deep hole for it.

Faraczek, a member of Troop 96 in Wantagh, said his project will now provide a new home for three screech owls already at Tackapausha. “We’re giving them a larger area,” he said. “We want it to feel more natural for them.”

The owl habitat is eight feet long, eight feet tall and four feet deep, through not all of it is for the animals. There is also space for the human caretakers and storage. A double-door system will ensure the owls can’t escape and there is also a double layer of mesh wiring around the cage.

Drawing up plans, raising about $650 and purchasing building materials and supplies were the tasks Faraczek had to complete during his half-year of planning for the project. When it came time to build, he had nearly 35 volunteers help him out. Without them, he said, the project would never have come to fruition. “It’s essential. It’s actually the main point of this,” Faraczek said, noting that an Eagle Scout project is supposed to be about leadership.

Boyle, an 11th-grader at Massapequa High School, said the experience allowed him to put the leadership skills he has learned in Boy Scouts into action. He said he is happy with the finished product. “I think it came out great,” he said. “It really does look good.”

Dennis Fleury, the museum director, said he was grateful to both scouts for their work. He noted that Tackapausha, which opened in 1965, has had long-standing relationships with many area scout troops. “If we had to fundraise for all this type of stuff, it would take much longer,” he said.

Fleury said that the screech owls are permanent residents of Tackapausha, as for various reasons they cannot be released. The existing housing for the birds was adequate, he said, but the enclosure built by Faraczek is much better.

The home Boyle built will now allow turtles to be outside, and Fleury said he expects them to be happier, healthier and live longer. He also said the museum will be able to have more turtles available for public viewing.

Faraczek, a senior at Wantagh High School, has completed all of his required merit badges and now will need to finish some paperwork before he can officially attain the Eagle rank, the highest honor in the Boy Scouts. “It’s always been a goal of mine to reach Eagle,” said Faraczek, who started in the Cub Scouts when he was in first grade.

He added that it was his goal for his community service project to build a structure that would stand for a long time. He said he hopes that when other Scouts come to see the screech owls and learn that the enclosure was built by a Boy Scout, it will encourage them to do similar work.

Tackapausha Preserve, which spans from Merrick Road to Jerusalem Avenue, separates Massapequa and Seaford. The museum is located on Washington Avenue, and is open Thursdays through Sundays.