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No more Rat poison in California


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2019 Nov 21, 1:52pm   1,425 views  15 comments

by mbSFBay   ➕follow (0)   💰tip   ignore  

As per the current issue of 'The Economist', California may ban rat poison - this is while the Rat population has exploded (in part, due to the end of drought, and increasing homelessness).

https://www.economist.com/united-states/2019/11/23/a-californian-bill-would-make-it-harder-to-control-the-states-thriving-rats

In other words, rat trap will be the only way to get rats. Time for Californians to "Master Bait".

Comments 1 - 15 of 15        Search these comments

1   NuttBoxer   2019 Nov 22, 9:09am  

I've only ever used traps, don't want my dogs accidentally getting poisoned. But if you have a mouse/rate problem, the real issue is your house is not secure in some area.
2   Bd6r   2019 Nov 22, 9:13am  

Rats Have Rights Too! (as opposed to Fucking White Males)
3   Ceffer   2019 Nov 22, 10:20am  

I didn't know that rats could vote.
4   mbSFBay   2019 Nov 22, 3:26pm  

Rats are like us (physiologically speaking), so maybe they should get to vote. They couldn't do worse than people anyways.
5   RC2006   2019 Nov 22, 3:45pm  

Ceffer says
I didn't know that rats could vote.

If dead people can vote why not rats, at least they are legally here.
6   thenuttyneutron   2019 Nov 22, 6:13pm  

Does this mean RX warfarin is being banned?
7   Karloff   2019 Nov 22, 6:30pm  

The rats were voted into power in CA. Banning the poison is a a self-preservation tactic.
8   RWSGFY   2019 Nov 22, 11:01pm  

What about gopher poison? Still kosher?
9   WookieMan   2019 Nov 23, 11:41am  

This is hysterical. Amazon will ship mouse/rat poison to your front door. Not a chance in hell authorities will be able to enforce this as well. What a complete waste of time.
10   RWSGFY   2019 Nov 23, 1:01pm  

WookieMan says
Amazon will ship mouse/rat poison to your front door.


Except they won't once the ban is in effect.
11   Automan Empire   2019 Nov 23, 3:04pm  

The problem here (that critics aren't addressing) is that the poison is cumulative and devastating to the entire food chain. Predators eat poisoned rats etc, become poisoned themselves, die off, then the rodent population is left to REALLY explode. In the long term, it becomes like Chairman Mao's initiative to kill off millions of sparrows to save crops, which resulted in an explosion of crop eating insects far worse than whatever was done by the sparrows themselves.

https://www.npr.org/2014/06/21/323970068/la-mountain-lion-a-poster-cat-for-californias-rat-poison-problem
12   FortwayeAsFuckJoeBiden   2019 Nov 23, 6:55pm  

They expect Californians to eat rats soon.
13   WookieMan   2019 Nov 24, 11:12am  

Automan Empire says
The problem here (that critics aren't addressing) is that the poison is cumulative and devastating to the entire food chain. Predators eat poisoned rats etc, become poisoned themselves, die off, then the rodent population is left to REALLY explode. In the long term, it becomes like Chairman Mao's initiative to kill off millions of sparrows to save crops, which resulted in an explosion of crop eating insects far worse than whatever was done by the sparrows themselves.

https://www.npr.org/2014/06/21/323970068/la-mountain-lion-a-poster-cat-for-californias-rat-poison-problem

While there's logic to what you're saying, I'm not certain the amounts of poison would impact a full grown ass mountain lion. The assumption that a predator is just going around, likely near really populated areas eating already dead, poisoned rats seems a bit of a stretch. Large rats are 800 grams and if poison is being used, they'll likely eat it at younger, lighter weights of say maybe 1/2lbs. Basically there's just not that much poison in it to transfer up the food chain or if mountain lions are eating them in city streets (not happening).

Mind you I'm no biologist, so I could be wrong admittedly. But I've yet to see piles of dead animals in and around cities where they are most certainly using poison to control rat populations.
14   RWSGFY   2019 Nov 24, 11:47am  

Automan Empire says
The problem here (that critics aren't addressing) is that the poison is cumulative and devastating to the entire food chain. Predators eat poisoned rats etc, become poisoned themselves, die off, then the rodent population is left to REALLY explode. In the long term, it becomes like Chairman Mao's initiative to kill off millions of sparrows to save crops, which resulted in an explosion of crop eating insects far worse than whatever was done by the sparrows themselves.

https://www.npr.org/2014/06/21/323970068/la-mountain-lion-a-poster-cat-for-californias-rat-poison-problem


This would affect coyotes even more due to their lower body mass, but somehow these things are thriving: we used to have just two resident coyotes in our neighborhood for years but this year I spot a gang of 5 or 6 roaming around just after sunset almost every night when I walk my dog.
15   WookieMan   2019 Nov 24, 1:02pm  

jazz_music says
TDS!

Great comment and content! Thanks for the contribute!

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