As a 35-year
resident, author of a field guide titled Animal
Tracks and Scat of California, a professional naturalist, and expert animal
tracker, I have seen the alarming effects of rodenticides on local wildlife and
domestic animals. Yes! even our pets.
My
experience of countless dying or dead animals is extensive. Recently in my
neighborhood there has been an almost complete eradication of the great horned owls,
the barn owls, and the western screech owls. Outside my window their nights
calls used to be ubiquitous and now they are all but gone. Animal Control has
also seen a spike in dead raptors in my area.
This crisis
is pointing directly to the use of rodenticides. This not just affecting birds
of prey, but effects are being seen throughout the food chain for the turkey vulture,
striped skunk, opossum, raccoon, gray fox, bobcat, coyote, and mountain lion,
to name a few.