Next steps:
At the end of the week, there is much that remains to be done. We could continue making owl boxes, but there are better things to do. We can, for example, write a letter to a government official to encourage them to push bills that would help to safeguard animals, like the owl. We can also go to community meetings, such as HOA meetings, and ask them to not use rodenticides and use snap traps instead. At these meetings, we could also encourage them to use the services of more eco-friendly exterminators, instead of those who use harmful poisons.
a letter to the marin county board of supervisors
June 4, 2015
Marin County Board of Supervisors
3501 Civic Center Drive, Suite 329
San Rafael, CA 94903
To the Marin County Board of Supervisors,
We are writing on behalf of a group of Marin Academy ninth grade students, whose End-of-Year Project is to focus on animal biodiversity in our local community. Specifically, we have explored the use of rodenticides and their effect on local wildlife, especially our local population of owls. Based upon our research, we believe there should be a county-wide ban on all rodenticides.
Our investigation has shown that rodenticides pose serious and deleterious effects on life in our county. The physiological effects of rodenticides are well known. The most common rodenticides used can be broken into two categories: first generation and second generation anticoagulant rodenticides. Anticoagulants prevent blood clotting and cause an animal to bleed out internally eventually resulting in death. First generation rodenticides, more commonly used by the public, require multiple ingestions before effectively killing the animal. The second generation poisons, on the other hand, take only one ingestion. However, in both cases, the rodent may wander for multiple days as easy prey, which causes serious harm to other living things. These toxins take around 3 days to kill an infected animal. Within this time, they could be eaten by predators, causing the poison to be transferred up the food chain. A study conducted by Wildcare, a well respected San Rafael nonprofit organization, revealed that 76.8% of mice and rat-eating predators in 2013 in the area have some level of rodenticide in their system. According to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, 70-80% of animals in the wildlife are affected by second generation rodenticides. Once an animal is infected, it can often be brought in for care, but many die even with special treatment. In addition, pets and children have been known to come in contact with the extremely harmful rodenticides. A study led by the American Association of Poison Control Centers shows that a total of 20,300 people nationwide, including 17,608 children under the age of six, were exposed to rodenticides in 1998. The amount of harm these rodenticides impose on our wildlife and our own species requires immediate action.
We understand that in California there is a current ban on the retail sale of all second generation rodenticides to the general public. While this does help reduce the poisoning of our wildlife, loopholes keep these animals and humans at great risk. While second generation rodenticides may have been removed from the shelves, these extremely toxic anticoagulant rodenticides are available for licensed commercial and agricultural pest-control operators. This allows people to simply hire exterminators rather than buy the poisons themselves. The highly toxic rodenticides enter our environment anyway and severely harm our local species indirectly. This ban also doesn’t restrict first generation rodenticides which are part of the problem. In the long run, our current laws are not adequately addressing the problem at hand.
We request a Marin County-wide ban on all rodenticides, both first and second generation. We request all rodenticides be removed from store shelves, and that commercial exterminator licensing of rodenticides be banned. We believe that this is the only way to completely remove rodenticides from the natural environment and to ensure a healthy ecosystem in which our local species, including humans, are protected from these poisons.
There are other, more humane, safe, and ecologically friendly ways in which we can both get rid of what some consider pests and ensure the health of other animals. Traps, for example, are ecologically friendly because they do not involve the use of poisons that can be passed on to a non-directed animal. They also are a more humane way of killing because, unlike rodenticides, they immediately kill the rat or mouse. Another, even more ecologically friendly way, would be to install more owl boxes, especially for those Barn and Screech Owls. We learned the Barn Owl’s primary food source is rodents, and a family of four Barn Owls can consume up to 3,000 rodents a year. This seems like very effective pest control indeed! Not only would we be lowering unwanted rodent populations, but we would provide nesting spaces for the decreasing population of Barn Owls that are declining because of rodenticides and decreasing habitat. Also, it is much less expensive to install a single owl box for an area rather than pay for multiple packages of rodenticides or exterminators, and other costly methods of killing.
As a group we have contributed to assessing this current problem by creating a website to educate the public on the use of rodenticides, and it can be found at eoy2015animals.weebly.com. We also are working closely with the non-profit Hungry Owl Project, located in Novato, to help expand the nesting sites for local Barn Owls by building and installing owl boxes in our county.
Please help us to solve the problems posed by poisoning our environment by adopting our proposal to enhance our ecosystem and ensure a healthy space for wildlife, including our own species, by banning rodenticides throughout the county. To respond to our proposal, please contact one of our advisors, Marin Academy science teacher, Mark Stefanski, at [email protected]. Thank you for your time and consideration.
Sincerely,
Audrey Whitten and Oliver Casey
on behalf of the 9th grade students in Marin Academy’s End-of- Year Project, 2015
_______________________________________________________
Sources:
[1] "Help WildCare Pursue Stricter Rodenticide Controls in California ." Wildcare. Wildcare, n.d. Web. 03 June
2015. <http://www.wildcarebayarea.org/site/PageServer?pagename=TakeAction_Rodenticide>.
[2] Moore, Irene. "CA Ban on Rat Poison Approved to Protect Wildlife." NBC Southern California.
NBCUniversal Media, LLC., 01 Mar. 2014. Web. 03 June 2015. <http://www.nbclosangeles.com/
news/local/Rat-poison-ban-buy-store-home-deport-pesticide-rodenticide-harmful-california-d-con-ani
mals-wildlife-mountain-lions-251494521.html>.
[3] "Rodenticides." Beyond Pesticides. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 June 2015. <http://www.beyondpesticides.org
/infoservices/pesticidefactsheets/toxic/rodenticide.php>.
Marin County Board of Supervisors
3501 Civic Center Drive, Suite 329
San Rafael, CA 94903
To the Marin County Board of Supervisors,
We are writing on behalf of a group of Marin Academy ninth grade students, whose End-of-Year Project is to focus on animal biodiversity in our local community. Specifically, we have explored the use of rodenticides and their effect on local wildlife, especially our local population of owls. Based upon our research, we believe there should be a county-wide ban on all rodenticides.
Our investigation has shown that rodenticides pose serious and deleterious effects on life in our county. The physiological effects of rodenticides are well known. The most common rodenticides used can be broken into two categories: first generation and second generation anticoagulant rodenticides. Anticoagulants prevent blood clotting and cause an animal to bleed out internally eventually resulting in death. First generation rodenticides, more commonly used by the public, require multiple ingestions before effectively killing the animal. The second generation poisons, on the other hand, take only one ingestion. However, in both cases, the rodent may wander for multiple days as easy prey, which causes serious harm to other living things. These toxins take around 3 days to kill an infected animal. Within this time, they could be eaten by predators, causing the poison to be transferred up the food chain. A study conducted by Wildcare, a well respected San Rafael nonprofit organization, revealed that 76.8% of mice and rat-eating predators in 2013 in the area have some level of rodenticide in their system. According to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, 70-80% of animals in the wildlife are affected by second generation rodenticides. Once an animal is infected, it can often be brought in for care, but many die even with special treatment. In addition, pets and children have been known to come in contact with the extremely harmful rodenticides. A study led by the American Association of Poison Control Centers shows that a total of 20,300 people nationwide, including 17,608 children under the age of six, were exposed to rodenticides in 1998. The amount of harm these rodenticides impose on our wildlife and our own species requires immediate action.
We understand that in California there is a current ban on the retail sale of all second generation rodenticides to the general public. While this does help reduce the poisoning of our wildlife, loopholes keep these animals and humans at great risk. While second generation rodenticides may have been removed from the shelves, these extremely toxic anticoagulant rodenticides are available for licensed commercial and agricultural pest-control operators. This allows people to simply hire exterminators rather than buy the poisons themselves. The highly toxic rodenticides enter our environment anyway and severely harm our local species indirectly. This ban also doesn’t restrict first generation rodenticides which are part of the problem. In the long run, our current laws are not adequately addressing the problem at hand.
We request a Marin County-wide ban on all rodenticides, both first and second generation. We request all rodenticides be removed from store shelves, and that commercial exterminator licensing of rodenticides be banned. We believe that this is the only way to completely remove rodenticides from the natural environment and to ensure a healthy ecosystem in which our local species, including humans, are protected from these poisons.
There are other, more humane, safe, and ecologically friendly ways in which we can both get rid of what some consider pests and ensure the health of other animals. Traps, for example, are ecologically friendly because they do not involve the use of poisons that can be passed on to a non-directed animal. They also are a more humane way of killing because, unlike rodenticides, they immediately kill the rat or mouse. Another, even more ecologically friendly way, would be to install more owl boxes, especially for those Barn and Screech Owls. We learned the Barn Owl’s primary food source is rodents, and a family of four Barn Owls can consume up to 3,000 rodents a year. This seems like very effective pest control indeed! Not only would we be lowering unwanted rodent populations, but we would provide nesting spaces for the decreasing population of Barn Owls that are declining because of rodenticides and decreasing habitat. Also, it is much less expensive to install a single owl box for an area rather than pay for multiple packages of rodenticides or exterminators, and other costly methods of killing.
As a group we have contributed to assessing this current problem by creating a website to educate the public on the use of rodenticides, and it can be found at eoy2015animals.weebly.com. We also are working closely with the non-profit Hungry Owl Project, located in Novato, to help expand the nesting sites for local Barn Owls by building and installing owl boxes in our county.
Please help us to solve the problems posed by poisoning our environment by adopting our proposal to enhance our ecosystem and ensure a healthy space for wildlife, including our own species, by banning rodenticides throughout the county. To respond to our proposal, please contact one of our advisors, Marin Academy science teacher, Mark Stefanski, at [email protected]. Thank you for your time and consideration.
Sincerely,
Audrey Whitten and Oliver Casey
on behalf of the 9th grade students in Marin Academy’s End-of- Year Project, 2015
_______________________________________________________
Sources:
[1] "Help WildCare Pursue Stricter Rodenticide Controls in California ." Wildcare. Wildcare, n.d. Web. 03 June
2015. <http://www.wildcarebayarea.org/site/PageServer?pagename=TakeAction_Rodenticide>.
[2] Moore, Irene. "CA Ban on Rat Poison Approved to Protect Wildlife." NBC Southern California.
NBCUniversal Media, LLC., 01 Mar. 2014. Web. 03 June 2015. <http://www.nbclosangeles.com/
news/local/Rat-poison-ban-buy-store-home-deport-pesticide-rodenticide-harmful-california-d-con-ani
mals-wildlife-mountain-lions-251494521.html>.
[3] "Rodenticides." Beyond Pesticides. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 June 2015. <http://www.beyondpesticides.org
/infoservices/pesticidefactsheets/toxic/rodenticide.php>.