Glad to be back online with all of you...........Trouble with my internet service had me "down" since last Wednesday............I start back up with some disturbing statistics from the NATIONAL PARK SERVICE here in Los Angeles(responsible for the Santa Monica Park) revealing that since they began studying the impacts of Rodenticides on Carnivores in 1966, huge percentages of Pumas, Coyotes, Bobcats and Foxes have died from ingesting the poisons that were first eaten by rodents, rabbits, squirrels and small mammals............As of April 2012, 11 of 12 Pumas have tested positive for the poison and two animals have died from it................93 of 105 Bobcats have tested positive with over 70 of these animals perishing from it ..................And 20 of 24 Coyotes tested had the poison in their system and 12 died from it.................Folks, use rat traps to get rid of the mice and rats in your house and barn................STOP USING POISON.............On top of degradation of habitat and climate change, these rodenticides are going to be the knock out punch for our "Impact, Trophic carnivores.................How to exist amongst us and fulfill their ecological services if we conciously poison their food?

[PDF]Lethal Dose: Rat Poison & Local Wildlife

www.nps.gov/samo/learn/news/.../RodenticideInfographic_Apr2014.pdf

Another Victim of Rat Poison?

September 17, 2015 Posted by: Kate Kuykendall,  Public Affairs Officer A local resident discovered this gray fox and reported  it to our biologists. | Photo: National Park Service When the National Park Service released an image that  showed the famous Griffith Park mountain lion known  as P-22 suffering from mange and disclosed that he  had been exposed to rat poison, biologists hoped the  unfortunate news would raise awareness about the  harmful impacts of common household poisons on  our local wildlife population.  This week’s report of a dead gray fox brought home  how far we have to go in educating the community  about the unintended impacts of using these products  around homes, parks, and businesses. A local resident called on Monday to report the dead  animal, found on private land near Peter Strauss  Ranch in Agoura. Although the findings are still  preliminary, the necropsy indicated that the gray  fox likely died as a result of exposure to anticoagulant  rodenticide (this is the more formal term for the rat  poisons that use blood thinners to kill the animal).  The gray fox had internal bleeding and did not  have any signs of other trauma (such as injury  from a vehicle, other animal, etc.). Testing the  liver for poison residues will help confirm the  cause of death. National Park Service researchers havebob  documented widespread exposure to anticoagulant  rodenticides since they began studying carnivores  in and around the Santa Monica Mountains in 1996.  The graphic below summarizes this research and  shows how the poison works its way up the food chain. Despite the fact that we’ve only studied a limited  number of gray foxes, this is not the first time we’ve  documented the poisoning of a local gray fox. Back  in 2008, biologist Joanne Moriarty conducted a  necropsy on GF-29 (the “GF” stands for gray fox),  an animal she had first caught near Westlake Village.  In that case, the animal had such significant internal  bleeding that blood was actually coming out of its  ears and mouth (anticoagulants block the vitamin  K cycle, which is critical for allowing the body’s  blood to clot). GF-29’s ear shows signs of external bleeding and  bruising. Anticoagulant rodenticides interfere with  blood clotting. | Photo: National Park Service Although these photos and details can be disturbing (and  these are the sanitized photos that do not show blood  throughout the abdominal cavity and elsewhere), it’s  critical that the public understands the unintended  consequences of using these poisons. So please share this blog post with others and learn  about controlling rodent populations without the use  of anticoagulant rodenticides. Although we think P-22 has recovered, it’s likely that  he continues to be exposed to poisons left out by  local residents and other property owners.  Let’s see what we can do to change that. ------------------------------------------------------------------- https://www.audubon.org/magazine/january-february -2013/poisons-used-kill-rodents-have-safer Poisons Used  to Kill Rodents  Have Safer  Alternatives A second generation of  ultra-potent rodenticides  creates a first-class crisis  for people, pets, and wildlife