{"id":127064,"date":"2024-04-03T04:37:26","date_gmt":"2024-04-03T10:37:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=127064"},"modified":"2024-04-03T04:37:26","modified_gmt":"2024-04-03T10:37:26","slug":"save-owls-by-not-using-rodent-poisons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/04\/03\/save-owls-by-not-using-rodent-poisons\/","title":{"rendered":"Save Owls By Not Using Rodent Poisons"},"content":{"rendered":"

Since spring’s arrival, people will be spending time outdoors, and more people will be seeing rats in their yards and gardens. Owls eat rats and other rodents.<\/p>\n

\"FemaleFemale Great Horned Owl on a desert cliff face nest – Box Elder County, Utah
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

People don’t like rats or other rodents near their homes, and frankly, I don’t blame them. Rats and mice can carry fleas, ticks, and diseases, which none of us want to worry about, especially if there are small children playing in those yards and gardens.<\/p>\n

Rats and other rodents can cause damage to homes and outbuildings as well. They can even cause fires by chewing on electrical wiring.<\/p>\n

But rat poisons, or rodenticides, are not the solution and those poisons can and do kill owls, other raptors, and predatory animals.<\/p>\n

Anticoagulant rodenticides cause internal hemorrhaging in the target species of rodents.<\/p>\n

Predatory birds, such as owls, consume the dying rodents or carry them back to their young, which in turn can kill the owls and their babies. The poisons in the “food” causes them to become ill or die.<\/p>\n

Rodenticides are also used on farms, ranches, and other agricultural industries where it kills owls and other raptors by secondary poisoning.<\/p>\n

\"BarredBarred Owl fledgling in a willow tree – Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, Oklahoma
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

The use of anticoagulant rodenticides has to end. Those poisons are killing the very solution for getting rid of those rodents.<\/p>\n

Owls and other predatory birds can kill and consume thousands of rodents each year. They are a natural solution to rodent problems and need to be protected, and when possible, even encouraged to nest in our yards and gardens.<\/p>\n

There are safer approaches to getting rid of rodents near our homes. The website RATS – or Raptors Are The Solution – offers valuable information on what to do about rats. That information and more can be found here<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Please, if you love birds, especially owls, don’t use rat poisons or anticoagulant rodenticides. Not even “just a little.”<\/p>\n

Keep the owls safe.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my owl photos in their galleries.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Since spring’s arrival, people will be spending time outdoors, and more people will be seeing rats in their yards and gardens. Owls eat rats and other rodents.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":127065,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[3755,27,1148,209,13973,13974,26],"tags":[4004,14865,5772,3756,2663,4203,5131,5100,4098,4070,4141,4108,4067,4071,6583,4075,3976,3967,294,153,14861,14862,14863,14864,165,3757,4427,6107,4193],"class_list":["post-127064","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-barred-owls","category-avian","category-box-elder-county-utah","category-great-horned-owls","category-oklahoma","category-sequoyah-national-wildlife-refuge","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-anticoagulant-rodenticides","tag-baby","tag-barred-owl","tag-birds-of-prey","tag-bubo-virginianus","tag-cliff","tag-cliff-face","tag-desert","tag-female","tag-fledgling","tag-great-horned-owl","tag-immature","tag-juvenile","tag-leaves","tag-nest","tag-nesting","tag-owl","tag-owls","tag-raptors","tag-rat-poison","tag-rodent-poison","tag-rodenticides","tag-secondary-poisoning","tag-spring","tag-strix-varia","tag-tree","tag-willow","tag-young"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t