Certified organic farms are prhibited by law to use poisons in food production areas including chicken coops, goat pens and areas where dairy animals are kept and fed.
The most commonly used poisons are anti-coagulants, which causes the rodents blood to thin, resulting in bleeding from the eyes and internal organs. As no immediate effect is felt, a rodent may consume many times the mortal dose.
A dosed rodent often suffers extreme thirst, and can be found wandering aimlessly from day 3-5, which is usually how long it takes for the animal to die. These poisons are considered one bite, one kill. As a dosed rodent wanders the landscape bleeding, what might happen? For a start, all predators prey on the sick and wounded, including owls and raptors, other land mammals follow. Bobcats are the only animal to exhibit any natural resistance to these types of poisons, and that is resistance not immunity. In short, in poisoning rats, all natural and native predators are inadvertently poisoned as well.
For more information about rat poison and the danger it poses to the food chain, visit our friends at Raptors Are the Solution