Subject: [Tweeters] rat poison and birds (wildlife)
Date: Feb 4 20:10:37 2010
From: Kelly Cassidy - lostriver at completebbs.com


I totally agree with Bill Anderson. In combo with killing the rats, your
acquaintance must figure out how the rats are getting into the house. That
can be a long process of finding the opening(s) you are sure must be the
problem, only to find you still have rodents. In our case, deer mice have
been the bane of our old farmhouse. I plugged opening after opening with
steel wool. There are a lot of potential mouse entry points in a house that
is nearly 100 years old that was originally wood sitting on dirt.
Eventually found a large opening where an electrical conduit came in the
wall, and the sound of mouse carpentry in the walls at 3 am finally ceased.
Then, we had the house painted last summer. In the process, much rotting
wood was pulled off. Most of the new openings were sealed up with new wood,
but obviously not all. Still trying to reseal the house.



Rat-sized opening should be easier to find than mouse-sized openings.
(Assuming these are really rats and not mice.) In the mean time, I'd
suggest snap traps. Besides being more humane and less likely to affect
non-target species, they will allow you to monitor the population status so
you tell whether the rodents are continuing to get in. Rat traps can break
fingers or doggie toes, so be careful setting them and placing them. Mouse
traps are a lot easier to deal with.



Kelly Cassidy



From: tweeters-bounces at mailman2.u.washington.edu
[mailto:tweeters-bounces at mailman2.u.washington.edu] On Behalf Of Barbara
Deihl
Sent: Thursday, February 04, 2010 1:35 PM
To: Tweeters at u.washington.edu
Subject: [Tweeters] rat poison and birds (wildlife)



I received this message yesterday from a concerned pet owner and
bird-watcher with whom I have corresponded regarding her interest in and
sightings of a Cooper's Hawk and a Merlin in her neighborhood. I put her
onto a couple of sites online about Contrac (they included an MSDS sheet),
but I think some personal experiences dealing with this issue would have
extra impact. Many of us deal with this conflict and could use some advice.
The inquirer was also concerned with the possibility of birds ingesting the
grainlike poison directly from the ground.



Please respond on-list if you have some direct experience with this or have
info to share.



Thanks.



Barb Deihl



North Matthews Beach - Seattle



barbdeihl at comcast.net



---------------excerpts from the message that stimulated my post - I have
permission to share this online...





Rat poison



I have had an exterminator poisoning my rats, which have actually invaded my
house-both the crawlspace ($1,400 cleanup) and <gasp!> my kitchen <shriek!>,
despite having multiple dogs--for years.



The poison (CONTRAC) is supposed to have very low secondary impact on any
animal eating the killed rats. I have not had any trouble with secondary
poisoning with the dogs, but I am also vigilant in disposing of dead rats.



I AM CONCERNED THAT RAPTORS MIGHT EAT THE DEAD RATS AND HAVE TROUBLE LAYING
VIABLE EGGS.



If I am poisoning the birds, I will stop the toxin part of my extermination
program and just use lots of snap traps.



Thanks so much.



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