Thread: Rats
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Jeff Higgins Jeff Higgins is online now
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Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Higgs Field
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Quote:
Originally Posted by deanp View Post
I get needing to dispatch rats, but secondary rodenticide is a major problem for other wildlife that can and will encounter the dying rats, often dying themselves after ingesting the poisoned rat. Eagles, hawks, falcons, and owls are especially susceptible.

https://www.raptorsarethesolution.org/free-outreach-materials/?fbclid=IwAR31-AzbdOg_oU__015_pVKti9cl4StCXiaPHYTkWrmrDy5G5OEhs9O bF6U
That doesn't have to be the case anymore. There are modern rat "poisons" that really aren't poison. Rat-X is a good example. It's essentially just a lot of gluten that swells up inside the rat's digestive tract and dehydrates it since it can no longer absorb water. Nothing that eats a rat that died from ingesting Rat-X (and similar products) is in any danger.

I love raptors, and live in an area unusually blessed with a pretty broad variety of them. We have a mated pair of bald eagles nesting in our neighborhood, and I'm privileged enough to watch them from my back deck as I enjoy a cup of coffee in the morning. Add to that a local abundance of red tailed hawks, a variety of owls, and even ospreys if I'm willing to drive (or ride) less than an hour from my house, and I feel as though I'm in "raptor heaven". I love watching all variety of them.

That said, any website titled "Raptors are the Solution" is not likely to give a very good assessment of the situation. They might be a bit myopic in their view. Just sayin'... A quick read seemed to indicate that they are eager to suggest "solutions" to rat infestations that really aren't, and represent a good deal of work and commitment to get less than fully effective results. Most folks will not put that level of effort and attention into ridding themselves of rats, especially not entire neighborhoods worth of folks. Most are simply not zealots at the level represented by the authors of that website. Sorry. Most want simple, quick, inexpensive solutions that actually work. That means "poison". Good thing is that we now have "poisons" that really aren't, yet they remain quite effective. I use them in good conscience as I watch "our" bald eagles circling overhead.
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Jeff
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Old 04-07-2022, 08:55 PM
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