The unintentional poisoning of wildlife who consume poisoned rats or other rodents killed through rodenticides has occasioned a strong new law in California. This fall, Governor Gavin Newsom signed the toughest anti-rodenticide regulation in the nation, known as the Poison-Free Wildlife Act. The act makes anticoagulant poisons illegal in all but a few exceptional cases, prohibiting the most egregious forms of poisons.
Rodents that eat bait poisoned with blood-thinning chemicals such as warfarin die from massive hemorrhage in three to five days. This also happens to any animal that eats another animal or carcass that contains the rodenticide toxin, a phenomenon known as second-generation exposure.
California’s new law targets the type of poisons responsible for second-generation poisonings of carrion-eaters, such as vultures and owls. As the act states, “Rodenticides can be counterproductive to rodent control by poisoning, harming, and killing natural predators that help regulate rodent populations throughout California.”
Bill 2335 becomes law on Jan. 1. It prohibits the use of pesticide products containing the active ingredients diphacinone, chlorophacinone and warfarin. Sponsored by assemblymember Laura Friedman (D-Glendale), the bill identifies wildlife diversity as a core value of Californians. Quite eloquently, it establishes that California respects the rights of animals to be free of suffering:
“Animals are capable of experiencing pain, stress, and fear, as well as pleasure, equanimity, and social bonds. Animals are able to subjectively feel and perceive the world around them, have intrinsic value, and deserve to be treated with compassion and to enjoy a quality of life that reflects their intrinsic value…. Exposure to anticoagulant rodenticides can cause pain, stress, fear, suffering, and sometimes death to animals, such as mountain lions, bobcats, owls, and foxes, that are not the intended targets of rodenticides. These animals have a right to a life free of poison.”
We live in an area revered for wildlife and are sensitive to the conditions that affect the wild community. It should be a matter of vigilance for us to ensure these poisons are not being supplied by pest control services and that homeowners are ceasing to use them. By law, chemicals used as poisons must be advertised on products as toxic to animals, plants and insects. Even though they have long names that are hard to remember, it is worth the effort to inspect and identify any that may still be in use around your home and your neighbors’ homes.
The dusky-footed woodrat, a rat that makes its home in forests, is endemic to West Marin. If there are signs of rats in interior spaces, it is understandable that people want them killed. But there are options that don’t involve poisons, including snap traps and “zappers.”
Pest control services sometimes put poison boxes outdoors, placing poison in the environment where rats naturally live, under the impression that they protect the house. If you feel you must resort to this, you should find out if the boxes contain the banned anticoagulates. Finding other options that don’t leave poison for second-generation consumption is an imminent legal responsibility.