NPR "Death Of Popular Hawk Highlights Concerns Over Rat Poison"

Today NPR hosted a needed piece about the use of certain rodenticides and their sometimes unfortunately unintended effects on wildlife and/or pets. Some rat and mouse baits can be toxic to wildlife and pets when they consume the mouse or rat that has died (or is ill) from the rodenticide poision. These animals are all omnivorse or carnivores--most notably raptors, birds of prey, becuase they are small and cannot tolerate much toxins. The dead or dying mouse or rat still carries the toxin in their bloodstream which is now consumed by the animal--wild or pet. Part of the controversy stems from consumer use where the average person is not trained, let alone licensed, to handle rodenticides with a full consideration of mitigating risks to children, pets and wildlife. California has banned the sale of some rat and mouse poisons to the general public for this reason. We at Cascade Pest Control greatly rely on trapping to being with. Trapping is likely more "humane" anyway and, besides eliminating secondary poisoning to hawks and other animals, insures that the dead rodent won't die inside a home causing a horrible odor problem. We do use rodenticides, however, they are applied by fully trained abnd licensed technicians and placed in tamper resistant bait stations when needed outdoors. Additionally, consideration of pets and wildlife is fully considered. Obviously, all of this has to be blanced with concern around rats and mice and the diseases they carry, as well as other damage they do. Thankfully, the NPR interview mentioned the fact that we do need effective rodent control because the threat from rodents is very real. They cited the recent illnesses that occurred in a National Park. Red Tailed Hawk, Rat Infestation, Enclosed Rodenticide Bait Station Don Leland