Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The nugget. (Sisters, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (May 1, 2019)
20 Wednesday, May 1, 2019 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon Poison bait traps are trouble waiting to happen By Jim Anderson Correspondent People who use poison bait stations to eradicate rodents are barking up the wrong tree. First, and most important, there¾s a question about the poison itself. In the literature supporting the use of this deadly bait they say, “…and the rodent goes off and dies.” Exactly, the rodent does go off and die — but sometimes it staggers into the storage area of the bait box and dies there. If that happens with the poi- son station set up against the wall at the Sisters Elementary School something terrible could happen. Burrowing rodents of Central Oregon — as well as our house-dwelling pack rats —have been identified as hosts of the flea that transmits bubonic plague, aka Black Death. That includes our beau- tiful forest tourist attraction the golden-mantled ground squir- rel. Millions of Belding ground squirrels killed throughout sum- mer by sage rat hunters as well as gophers, voles and other rodents found underfoot are also disease carriers. Several years ago a child on the Warm Springs Reservation died of bubonic plague when her cat brought into the house a dead Belding ground squirrel it had killed. A plague-carrying flea jumped off it and bit the child, transferring the plague to her. In October of 2015 another child died of the plague in Oregon who was on a hunting trip near Heppner, undoubt- edly from a flea that found the child¾s warm body more suit- able than the rodent it had been on. A poison bait trap could act the same way if a rodent carry- ing the plague died of poison- ing. The flea would leave the animal when it cooled and go searching for another warm body. In a public place, hun- dreds can pass a trap every day. Then there¾s the poison used to kill the rodents: if it¾s Brodifacoum, it will continue killing long after the rodent dies. It¾s a poison that rodent- killers love to use because when the victim eats it, it/they will die quickly. But before it dies, it could wander away from the poison bait station. Then what? Brodifacoum is a highly lethal anticoagulant poison that has become one of the world¾s most widely used pesticides. It¾s typically used as a rodenti- cide, but is also used to control larger “pests” such as coyotes and badgers. Brodifacoum is also persistent in soils with a half-life of 157 days, and if spilled could get into ground water easily. The secondary killing by Brodifacoum victims is the reason two baby eagles died very near Sisters. The par- ents returned to the nest with a rodent that had died on the surface after ingesting Brodifacoum, fed it to the nest- lings, and in a short time they, too, were dead. That nest is empty this year and it¾s not too difficult to guess why… There are several eagle nests around Central Oregon that have been producing golden eagles for over 50 years that are empty today. The opinion of wildlife biologists is that those eagles may have ingested Brodifacoum in the body of a dead ground squirrel, or may have died from poisoning in a ground squirrel containing lead from the ammunition used to kill it. When it comes to poison bait stations, it appears the new Sisters district ranger, Ian Reid, inherited a situation that on the surface appears to be a mundane case of eliminating a few animals that the Metolius homeowner(s) didn¾t like, or lived in fear of. But in reality the poison has been causing serious damage to a section of the Metolius River riparian ecosystem. That¾s the trouble with most poisons — they keep on killing non-target victims. The local hardware stores carry an amaz- ing number of products avail- able to kill animals. It could give one the feeling our whole world was about to be taken over by these tiny rodents and someone shouted, <Kill ¾em all!” There are Sweeney¾s poison peanuts that¾ll kill anything that eats them; same for their plas- tic life-like worms. And then there¾s the blaring statement, “GUARANTEED TO KILL! on d-Con¾s stuff. Ramik¾s poi- son Mint Bars and Green Mini Bait are attractive — and deadly — to any bird or mammal that lives on the forest floor. There¾s <Tomcat= (what an appropriate name for all the feral and house cats that are out there killing state-protected wildlife) offered on Google. It runs $23.98 for a 4 lb. pail. At A typical poison bait station set out for Pine Meadow Ranch. the end of the list on Google there are 24 other sugges- tions for killing rodents. Getridofthings.com is an example. A spokesman for the USFS Sisters District said, “I, along with others on the District, have noticed more and more bait boxes in the Metolius housing area and we too feel the need to address this issue. One-on-one con- versations with cabin owners have not solved the problem; the poison stations are still there.” CLEANER LIVING NW Full Service Eco-Friendly Cleaning Company 100% Non-Toxic Spring Cleaning Specials 15% Off Upholstery Cleaning 20% Off Carpet Cleaning 25% Off Rug Cleaning Call for pricing. May not be combined with other offers. Expires 6/30/19 NN 541-668-0659 | cleanerliving.com No one in the industry goes further to ensure a high-quality cleaning than Cleaner Living NW. And no one is more committed to helping you keep your home or business a healthy environment. “It is very scary how many toxins people unknow- ingly bring into their home with the cleaning products they buy,” says company founder Elizabeth Buchanan. “The products we use and sell are absolutely 100 percent naturally derived and are safe around kids, pets, and people with compromised immune systems or allergies.” One phone call will provide for all your clean- ing needs — residential, vacation rental cleaning, and commercial. They use a highly-effective, all-natural, odor-neutralizing cleaning solution developed by Buchanan. If quality cleaning and a healthful environ- ment are important to you, Cleaner Living NW is your company of choice. HCD COMPOST Spring planting season is just around the corner. Central Oregon soils are naturally poor in quality and lack organic matter. That’s a problem for gardeners — but fortunately there’s a solution. And it’s a handy one, too. High Country Disposal offers compost sales from our sister company, Deschutes Recycling. Soils amended with our compost will provide the benefits of water retention and nutrients needed to help your plants and garden grow. Quality compost can make all the difference in making your garden a success. High Country Disposal compost is tested with the U.S. Composting Council to ensure quality and reliability. Compost is available in bulk, or if you only need a small amount, we have individual bags too. Convenient delivery is available. Make your garden thrive like never before this sea- son. For more information, please call 541-548-4984. food in Sisters that isn¾t con- also available at Melvin¾s Fir they¾re working on a system to Nagel said he¾s ideally don¾t know how quickly we¾re