Why Wildlife Needs Our Help

from https://www.massaudubon.org/take-action/advocate/rescue-raptors

Second Generation Anti-Coagulant Rodenticides (SGARs) are a class of poisons that prevent blood from clotting, causing internal bleeding, organ failure, paralysis, and often death. 

While the federal government banned the retail sale of SGARs in 2015 due to the dangers posed to children, pets, and wildlife, they remain legal—and widely used—by licensed pest control professionals in Massachusetts.

How SGARs Poison our Wildlife and Communities 

Although pest control professionals use SGARS to target mice and rats, these deadly poisons move throughout the food chain, with destructive consequences to the entire ecosystem. 

SGARs work slowly, so after ingesting bait, a rodent may live for several days, during which time it becomes more vulnerable to predators and scavengers. When a predator eats a poisoned rodent, SGARs pass into its own organs in a process known as “secondary poisoning.” Just like a rodent that has ingested SGARs, a predator that consumes enough poisoned rodents will develop serious internal bleeding, leading to serious illness or death.  

In recent years, researchers have documented an alarming number of predators sickened and killed by SGARS. Veterinarians at the New England Wildlife Centers report treating hundreds of poisoned raptors,foxes, and coyotes each year. 

A recent study found that 100% of Red-tailed Hawks tested at a wildlife clinic in Massachusetts had SGARs in their organs. And a national study of 303 dead Bald Eagles found that 82% of the sampled birds had been exposed to rodenticides. Many of these birds died from other causes like collisions with vehicles, but exposure to rodenticides reduces an animal’s health and alertness, making it less able to hunt and more susceptible to hazards. 

There’s no way to precisely track how many predators have been killed by SGARs in the wild. But the anecdotal evidence we have suggests that we are systematically weakening species at multiple levels of the food chain.