Environment & Energy
Related: About this forumUS wants to dump 1.5 tons of rat poison pellets on Farallon Islands. Say it's for the best.
For most humans, life on these jagged islands off the coast of San Francisco would be a nightmare: Waves lash the shore with treacherous force, the stench of guano fills the air, and the screech of seagulls is so loud that resident scientists wear earplugs to bed.
But wildlife thrive on the Devils Teeth the name given to the Farallon Islands by sailors over a century ago.
The islands boast one of the worlds largest breeding colonies for seabirds, including the rare ashy storm-petrel, and their beaches are covered with lolling sea lions and seals. The waters surrounding the islands teem with 18 species of whales and dolphins.
The islands also host tens of thousands of house mice an invasive species that is wreaking havoc on the native ecosystem, according to biologists.
The explosive growth in mice has attracted burrowing owls, who not only eat the mice but also prey upon the storm-petrels, a rare bird with a declining population.
The federal government contends that the only way to get rid of the mice is to drop 1.5 tons of rat poison pellets from a helicopter onto the islands. But San Francisco Bay Area conservationists are worried that the poison, an increasingly controversial rodenticide called brodifacoum, will kill other species and make its way up the food chain.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/us-wants-to-dump-15-tons-of-rat-poison-pellets-on-farallon-islands-biologists-say-its-for-the-best/ar-AAE4QHY?li=BBnbcA1
KT2000
(20,576 posts)the poison will make its way through all that live on that island. Someone is listening to the salesman again.
RockRaven
(14,959 posts)The seabirds and other native species are worth the risk, which is far less than the rather fantastical claims of some objectors.
sinkingfeeling
(51,445 posts)CurtEastPoint
(18,639 posts)mopinko
(70,079 posts)they have an awful feral cat problem.
CurtEastPoint
(18,639 posts)Rhiannon12866
(205,220 posts)NickB79
(19,233 posts)It worked on South Georgia Island; the poisoned rodents went into their burrows to die.
The death toll from birds eating poisoned mice would be less than the annual death toll now. It's a no-brainer: deploy the poison.