Rodenticides Are Killing Massachusetts Wildlife

 Environment, July/August 2024  Comments Off on Rodenticides Are Killing Massachusetts Wildlife
Jun 252024
 
Rodenticides Are Killing Massachusetts Wildlife

Will Authorities Step Up? Courtesy of the Harvard Animal Law & Policy Clinic A coalition of Massachusetts residents petitioned the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources (MDAR) in May to suspend the registrations of anticoagulant rodenticide products that are killing eagles, owls, and other wild animals throughout the Commonwealth. The petition—prepared by the Harvard Law School Animal Law & Policy Clinic—was submitted on behalf of bird rehabilitators Erin Hutchings, Jodi Swenson, and Linda Amato of Cape Ann Wildlife in Essex; mammal rehabilitator Jane Newhouse of Newhouse Wildlife Rescue in Chelmsford; Marci Cemenska of Save Lexington Wildlife; James Joyce II and Patricia [READ MORE]

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If You Just Sit Still

 May/June 2023  Comments Off on If You Just Sit Still
Apr 262023
 
If You Just Sit Still

By David Morris When I was young, I had an uncle who was attuned to nature. He was an artist, a hunter, a forager, and truly fascinating to an eight-year-old. Recently, after a frustrating morning trying to see some wildlife, I remembered his words. He’d said, “You need to remember that you are part of nature, too. You need to find a nice spot and just sit still. Don’t wait for when it’s time to move, but just enjoy the looking, the listening, and the sitting still. After a while, once you start to seem like one of them, the [READ MORE]

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Join New Belmont Group Protecting Raptors

 Environment, March/April 2023  Comments Off on Join New Belmont Group Protecting Raptors
Mar 012023
 
Join New Belmont Group Protecting Raptors

By Jeffrey North Eagles, owls, and hawks are dying. Of the 161 Massachusetts raptors tested at Tufts Wildlife Clinic in a study between 2006 and 2010, 86% had poison residues in their liver tissue. And according to the EPA, more than 10,000 kids are poisoned by toxic chemicals left around residences, restaurants, or public parks to poison rats.  Take action Proven tactics to address the problem with minimal or no rodenticide use include Integrated Pest Management plans, engaging housing authorities, affecting retail and construction site practices, and a rat poison bylaw. And please support legislation currently before the House (HD [READ MORE]

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Law Could Prevent Eagle Poisoning

 Newsletter, November-December 2021  Comments Off on Law Could Prevent Eagle Poisoning
Nov 012021
 
Law Could Prevent Eagle Poisoning

By Laura Kiesel I rushed to the cemetery when I heard the news, hoping it had been a false rumor. When I arrived, I aimed my camera up at the large nest that took up more than half the tree top and zoomed in. It was completely empty.  The bald eagle I had watched grow from a fuzzy helpless chick to a strong and agile juvenile was gone. Soon after MassWildlife confirmed the rumor: the eaglet died after consuming a class of rat poisons known as second generation anticoagulant rodenticides known as SGARs. SGARs had been banned by the US [READ MORE]

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Rodent Poisons Sicken and Kill Birds of Prey

 Newsletter, November-December 2021  Comments Off on Rodent Poisons Sicken and Kill Birds of Prey
Nov 012021
 
Rodent Poisons Sicken and Kill Birds of Prey

Study finds 100% of tested red-tailed hawks at Tufts clinic exposed to rodenticides By Angela Nelson This article originally appeared in the September 16, 2020 issue of Tufts Now, and is reprinted with permission.  Maureen Murray, director of Tufts Wildlife Clinic and clinical associate professor at Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine, has been studying rodenticide exposure in birds of prey for over a decade. Exposure to rodenticides occurs when people use these chemicals to kill unwanted pests. Mice and rats, or possibly other animals, eat the poison, and then the birds eat the poisoned prey.  Murray has witnessed a steady [READ MORE]

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