Join New Belmont Group Protecting Raptors

 Environment, March/April 2023  Comments Off on Join New Belmont Group Protecting Raptors
Mar 012023
 
Join New Belmont Group Protecting Raptors

By Jeffrey North Eagles, owls, and hawks are dying. Of the 161 Massachusetts raptors tested at Tufts Wildlife Clinic in a study between 2006 and 2010, 86% had poison residues in their liver tissue. And according to the EPA, more than 10,000 kids are poisoned by toxic chemicals left around residences, restaurants, or public parks to poison rats.  Take action Proven tactics to address the problem with minimal or no rodenticide use include Integrated Pest Management plans, engaging housing authorities, affecting retail and construction site practices, and a rat poison bylaw. And please support legislation currently before the House (HD [READ MORE]

Share

How Can We Control Urban Rats?

 Environment, May/June 2022  Comments Off on How Can We Control Urban Rats?
May 082022
 
How Can We Control Urban Rats?

By Fred Bouchard Plague-ridden Saxony hired the legendary Pied Piper to toot rats out of Hamelin. Other age-old tactics—trapping, shooting, pan-banging—raise fresh collateral issues in densely populated areas, in addition to mess and noise. Chicago in recent years resorted to sniper stealth by siccing 1,000 neutered feral cats on its record rat population. Passive approaches to rat control yield slow results, as city-centric man confronts Rattus norvegicus, the world’s most populous and prolific urban mammal. Rat fertility is gaining ground as shorter, warmer winters encourage them to squeeze out an extra litter or three a year. Exterminators concur that the [READ MORE]

Share

Letters to the Editor January 2022

 January 2022, Newsletter  Comments Off on Letters to the Editor January 2022
Jan 042022
 
Letters to the Editor January 2022

To the Editor: Just a quick note to say thank you for the latest edition of the Citizens Forum (Belmont Citizens Forum Newsletter, November/December 2021). Nicely done. I’m a raptor fan, and I have been following articles about poisonings for a few years. There were quite a few sick and dead squirrels found on the Town Field/Waverley area (including my backyard) a few years ago. Just today, I saw a new post on the Belmont Parents Facebook page about a sick squirrel — symptoms of a larger problem. Sadly our local red tailed hawk hasn’t been seen in months. Thank [READ MORE]

Share

Law Could Prevent Eagle Poisoning

 Newsletter, November-December 2021  Comments Off on Law Could Prevent Eagle Poisoning
Nov 012021
 
Law Could Prevent Eagle Poisoning

By Laura Kiesel I rushed to the cemetery when I heard the news, hoping it had been a false rumor. When I arrived, I aimed my camera up at the large nest that took up more than half the tree top and zoomed in. It was completely empty.  The bald eagle I had watched grow from a fuzzy helpless chick to a strong and agile juvenile was gone. Soon after MassWildlife confirmed the rumor: the eaglet died after consuming a class of rat poisons known as second generation anticoagulant rodenticides known as SGARs. SGARs had been banned by the US [READ MORE]

Share

Rodent Poisons Sicken and Kill Birds of Prey

 Newsletter, November-December 2021  Comments Off on Rodent Poisons Sicken and Kill Birds of Prey
Nov 012021
 
Rodent Poisons Sicken and Kill Birds of Prey

Study finds 100% of tested red-tailed hawks at Tufts clinic exposed to rodenticides By Angela Nelson This article originally appeared in the September 16, 2020 issue of Tufts Now, and is reprinted with permission.  Maureen Murray, director of Tufts Wildlife Clinic and clinical associate professor at Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine, has been studying rodenticide exposure in birds of prey for over a decade. Exposure to rodenticides occurs when people use these chemicals to kill unwanted pests. Mice and rats, or possibly other animals, eat the poison, and then the birds eat the poisoned prey.  Murray has witnessed a steady [READ MORE]

Share