By James Hanlon

Leader Staff Writer

Who, who put three owl houses on the Polly Ann Trail? Girl Scout Deanna Moreau, that’s who. It was her service project for her Gold Award, the highest honor in the Girls Scouts.

“I’ve always had interest in animals and if I can, I’ve always wanted to help them,” said the Lake Orion High School senior.

Researching animals in need or endangered led her to owl houses. With the help of her father, Jeremy, she installed one nesting house designed for a barn owl along the trail in Addison Township, and two designed for barred owls across Lakeville Road from Lake Villa Manufactured Home Community in Oxford Township.

While the two owl species have similar sounding names, they are different. Barn owls are rare in this region due to loss of habitat and poison, but barred owls are more common.

She hasn’t spotted any yet, but Deanna hopes these nocturnal birds of prey will find the houses soon. “We put them in areas they really enjoy and that will attract them,” near woods and water sources.

She also posted an information sign she designed with her mother, her troop leader. The sign has a couple QR codes trail users can scan to learn more, and to give Deanna feedback or to report owl sightings. Home owners can order nesting houses like these for their yards online, which would help increase the chances of owls returning to the area.

Deanna raised money for the project through a bottle drive with the Oxford Village Police in January. Chief Mike Solwold offered the use of the police garage at 22 W. Burdick St. to collect and store the returnables, and he promoted the fundraiser on Facebook. Deanna thanked Polly Ann Trail Manager Linda Moran, the Oxford Police, and her dad for all their help.

Now aged 17, Deanna joined the Girl Scouts when she was in elementary school – and she has stayed involved ever since. “I just enjoy it so much because I have the opportunity to do so many new things and it really pushes me out of my box and I get to meet a ton of new people and it’s just something I can look forward to sometimes.”