| Show 1 w 80 Thursday f ir n t wrf i 1 11 W If iTiy lyji ijfigi y yf i jngynij Life May 27 1999 i Standard- - Examine Poisoning rabbits an option Although more humane controls are preferred they can be too labor-intensi- Diphacinone or Chlorophacinonc Both are anticoagulants which prevent blood from clotting and will cause the rabbits to bleed to death Some states prohibit the use of poisons m controlling depredating rabbits Andrea ve live in a 36-ac- re proiect into a hillside are inundated with Because I am against killing the animals I'm very concerned w ith the methods our board has chosen to control them I understand it may poison the rabbits I called the animal control operator and he said the poison will not kill dogs or cats How can this be true? And won't buds and wild animals eating carcasses get poisoned’ A Rabbit populations both cottontail and jackrabbit fluctuate in response to their habitat Your townhouse complex which is probably lushly landscaped with lots of tasty plants and grass and plenty shrubs to escape of into and nest under must be rabbit heaven Although it’s common tor nuisance animal control operators to poison rabbits in large-scal- e situations like farms where crops are being eaten wholesale or m orchards where rabbits are damaging trees there are better ways to control the animals in smaller more localized settings like back yards and townhouse complexes In fact I prefer almost any other humane technique to poison The truth is poisoning rabbits e than may be less and the area fencing trapping and is certainly more profitable for the animal control operator But it’s obviously not a public relations coup or you wouldn't be writing Qe Kitay According to a representative Backyard at the State of Critters California Environmental Protection Agency (California incidentally has some of the most stringent pesticide regulations in the country) anticoagulants have a long safety record In fact for the bait to work the animal has to feed almost exclusively on it for a week That it’s not an acute toxicant like the previous generation of baits namely strychnine is what makes it less animals of a nsk for for instance should an animal eat the bait once or twice it will probably only get sick not die non-targ- As far as your pets getting poisoned goes it's a mixed bag Because most cats aren’t big on eating grains like oats and rolled barley chances are you won’t have to worry about them nibbling the bait But dogs are less particular and may ingest at least some if it’s left out where they have access to it labor-intensiv- Kids a concern te Check with company In any event more information is always better so find out when the control program is going to take place where the bait is being placed and what precautions the animal control company is going to take to protect your children and your dog Homeowners can keep cottontails out of gardens and yards by eliminating escape cover like jumper stacks of wood and brush piles or by constructing a simple inexpensive fence made from chicken wire hardware cloth or wood You can find it at almost every hardware store m town Make sure the fence is 3 feet high to exclude both cottontails and jackrabbits and bury it into the ground 6 inches or so Stake it every 6 feet or as often as needed Make sure gates have sills on them so the rabbits won’t slip underneath Send your homeow queries to wildlife biologist Andrea Kitay P O Box 2489 Camarillo CA 93011 or via at andrea(a In ingw itlm ildlfe com All ner-entt- er A greater concern for those of us with little kids particularly toddlers is their uncanny desire to cram everything that comes into their line of vision in their mouths So while the experts blather on assuring us that this nasty stuff is safe I’d err on the side of caution and keep my pets Only rabbits targeted The reason the nuisance animal control guy says pets and animals won't other be harmed is because of the type of poison he’ll probably use which in California will be either non-targ- et in and watch my kids like a hawk The good news is that the bait is dyed a green or blue color so that it won’t be attractive to birds which as you suspected might be poisoned if they ate it As far as the food chain goes there are few secondary hazards because of its non-acustatus That’s to say like the bait many poisoned carcasses would have to be eaten before the diner himself would be poisoned And if the animal control company is doing its job it should be picking up carcasses a couple of times per day once the bunnies bite the dust et questions will be considered for use but cannot be answered individually H ildhfe bulletins are available for $4 eai h at h H’H1 hvmgw ithwildlife com x -- -z t' - V 4 loin your neighbors litis weak! 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