Trending Topics
Billions in Flight: Migratory Birds 
Autumn doesn’t officially begin until the equinox on September 22, but all across North America birds are already on the wing—billions of them. Migration times and destinations vary based on the species and variables like weather and food sources—some...
One-Room Schoolhouse 
Back to school. A hundred years ago in Topanga, it would have been on foot—and often barefoot—to the little, red, one-room schoolhouse by the creek in the bend of the dirt road.  Public education in California was still relatively...
Desert Voices 
“‘Just now our blood dances to other music.’ They fell a-twittering among themselves once more, and this time their intoxicating babble was of violet seas, tawny sands, and lizard-haunted walls.” The swallows in Kenneth Grahame’s Wind in the Willows...
Desert Daytrip 
A desert experience doesn’t always require one to crawl on hands and knees through the thornbush and cactus, regardless of what Edward Abbey says. Anyone seeking cactus, sandstone, and volcanic peaks need look no farther than our own Santa...
SamoFund Katelyn Tarver
Rodenticide Kills Everything!
Feature

Rodenticide Kills Everything! 

Anticoagulant rodenticides kill far more than rodents. This class of widely available pesticides expose pets and local wildlife to deadly poison and the risk of a slow, agonizingly painful death. Rodenticides are still having a catastrophic impact on wildlife, despite efforts to limit use.

Rodents that consume anticoagulant poisons do not die immediately, it can take up to 10 days for the animal to die from internal bleeding. If the poisoned rodent is eaten by another animal after ingesting anticoagulants, that animal is also exposed to the poison.

Rodents that eat poisoned bait continue to move around in the environment and are easy targets for cats, dogs and our native predators, including mountain lions, bobcats, hawks, owls, and coyotes.

Rodents aren’t the only animals attracted to poisoned bait. Birds, rabbits, raccoons, opossums, coyotes, and domestic dogs are attracted to bait boxes. 

Predators like owls and bobcats that depend on rodents for a major part of their diet are victims of secondary poisoning. Domestic cats are also at risk. Victims of rodenticide poisoning include a three-month-old kitten.

Tertiary Poisoning occurs when a non-target species eats an animal that is a victim of secondary poisoning. Species like mountain lions can be impacted by secondary and tertiary poisoning. The toxins built up in their system, leaving them with a weakened immune system, and more susceptible to potentially life threatening infections, including lethal mange.

Anticoagulants travel throughout the food chain. There is no way to limit the impact to the target species. NPS research has revealed that 92% of bobcats, 83% of coyotes, and an appalling 94% of mountain lions have been exposed to anticoagulant poisons, sometimes multiple types. This was the second leading cause of death during the study. 

Topanga residents historically value nature, the environment, and our wildlife neighbors. Efforts are being made to ban this class of pesticide. Until that happens, it’s up to us to keep our pets and wildlife safe. Anticoagulant rodenticides have no place in our mountains. For more information, visit www.nps.gov/samo/learn/management/rodenticides.htm, www.poisonfreemalibu.org, or www.samofund.org/break-the-poison-chain

THE CHAIN OF DEATH: How rodenticides can enter the local food chain, with unintended victims.

Related posts

Leave a Reply

Required fields are marked *