East Kingston
EAST KINGSTON — The cold weather has set in and the mice are setting up in the walls of my house as they seek a warmer shelter and as their outdoor food sources run out.
The signs are there: something chewed through the dog food bag; there is a hole in one of my sweaters where some nesting material was taken; and there are telltale deposits left on a pantry shelf. I live in an old house near a large field and plugging up all the possible entry points is an impossibility.
“I hate those meeses to pieces” said Mr. Jinks (a 1960’s cartoon cat) – for me this is war! I tried glue traps, just once. The result seemed way too prolonged and cruel. Snap traps which come in so many sizes and variations these days expedite the process and are my weapon of choice.
I used to put down poison pellets or the little green bricks until I went to a talk given by a raptor naturalist over a decade ago and heard how some rodenticides led to awful deaths in birds of prey (think about our red-tailed hawks, owls, eagles, etc.).
As a visit to your local hardware store will evidence, there are MANY different types of rodenticides (anticoagulant, non-anticoagulants, FGAR, etc.) and not knowing the differences myself, I decided not to use them at all.
I’ve since learned that the more lethal rodenticides, Second-Generation Anticoagulant Rodenticides (SGARs) are a class of rodent poisons that prevent blood clotting.
Any bird, wildlife or pet that eats poisoned rodents accumulates SGARs in their own body, often leading to death. Since raptors consume thousands of rodents a year, they are particularly susceptible to these impacts.
The EPA has pushed to have SGAR products removed from retail shelves. However, SGARs are still easily ordered online and are widely used by commercial rodent control companies. You may have noticed little black container boxes near the dumpster by a favorite restaurant?
So how does one handle a rodent problem while not threatening other species? You may have your own methods in dealing with rodent problems (hopefully not peaceful coexistence, neighbor).
A very helpful webinar by Massachusetts Audubon, NH Audubon and the Audubon Society of Rhode Island recommends a tiered approach, as shown in their Integrated Pest Management pyramid below. The webinar, A Forum for Safe Rodent Control in New England — YouTube, discusses the non-rodenticide tactics, including:
• Exclusion (closing entries)
• Removing food sources (bird feeders, pet food, compost)
• Making your property raptor-friendly. Parent hawks and chicks can eat 1,000 mice in a nesting season, according to Dr. Charles Clarkson, Audubon RI.
• Using non-toxic traps (Co2, snap or electronic traps, rodent contraceptives and dry ice)
• Requesting that your commercial exterminator not use SGARs.
In New Hampshire, if you are interested in advocating to reduce the use of rodenticides, please contact Carol Foss, NH Audubon Senior Advisor for Science and Policy, cfoss@nhaudubon.org.