{"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_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"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":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/barred-owl-chick-in-willow-mia-mcpherson-3825.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-x3q","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":20812,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/03\/02\/great-horned-owl-fledgling-and-an-old-granary\/","url_meta":{"origin":127064,"position":0},"title":"Great Horned Owl fledgling and an old granary","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 2, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"This morning winter is trying to creep back into northern Utah but I am thinking of warmer weather, Montana and Great Horned Owls.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Great Horned Owl fledgling and an old granary, Glacier County, Montana","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/great-horned-owl-fledgling-mia-mcpherson-6731.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/great-horned-owl-fledgling-mia-mcpherson-6731.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/great-horned-owl-fledgling-mia-mcpherson-6731.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/great-horned-owl-fledgling-mia-mcpherson-6731.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":79015,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/02\/07\/its-superb-owl-sunday\/","url_meta":{"origin":127064,"position":1},"title":"It’s Superb Owl Sunday!","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 7, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"It is Superb Owl Sunday so I wanted to share four of the owls that I see most frequently. Barn, Burrowing, Great Horned and Short-eared Owls are the owls that I photograph most often here in northern Utah.","rel":"","context":"In "American Barn Owls"","block_context":{"text":"American Barn Owls","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/owls\/barn-owls\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Young Short-eared Owl resting in front of sage, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/short-eared-owl-juvenile-sage-mia-mcpherson-2874.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/short-eared-owl-juvenile-sage-mia-mcpherson-2874.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/short-eared-owl-juvenile-sage-mia-mcpherson-2874.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/short-eared-owl-juvenile-sage-mia-mcpherson-2874.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":27009,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/08\/01\/great-horned-owl-in-box-elder-county\/","url_meta":{"origin":127064,"position":2},"title":"Great Horned Owl in Box Elder County","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 1, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"I was in far northern Utah yesterday and saw the hawks I expected to see but finding this Great Horned Owl was a bit of a surprise since I wasn't looking for Great Horned Owls.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Great Horned Owl in Box Elder County, northern Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/great-horned-owl-mia-mcpherson-1130.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/great-horned-owl-mia-mcpherson-1130.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/great-horned-owl-mia-mcpherson-1130.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/great-horned-owl-mia-mcpherson-1130.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":98321,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/12\/20\/aba-bird-of-the-year-2022-the-burrowing-owl\/","url_meta":{"origin":127064,"position":3},"title":"ABA Bird Of The Year 2022 – The Burrowing Owl!","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 20, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"It was announced yesterday that the Burrowing Owl is the 2022 ABA Bird of the Year! Burrowing Owls are small, long-legged, sandy-colored, charismatic owls with bright yellow eyes.","rel":"","context":"In "Antelope Island State Park"","block_context":{"text":"Antelope Island State Park","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/antelope-island-state-park\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Immature Burrowing Owl on a stump in soft morning light, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/burrowing-owl-immature-morning-light-mia-mcpherson-7693.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/burrowing-owl-immature-morning-light-mia-mcpherson-7693.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday while wandering around in northern Utah I spotted an adult and then 5 sibling Burrowing Owls also showed up to perch on an old fence line.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Sibling Burrowing Owls, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/burrowing-owl-owlets-mia-mcpherson-7807.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/burrowing-owl-owlets-mia-mcpherson-7807.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/burrowing-owl-owlets-mia-mcpherson-7807.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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