Last week my grandsons found a Tawny Frogmouth dead in our yard. The bird had been hunting around Water St and the Cove for a few years and would roost in our yard, it met an untimely death. We also found evidence of a regurgitated small mammal probably a marsupial mouse that had taken a rat/mouse bait next to the dead bird. One can presume that this was the cause of death.
People may not realise that baits containing anticoagulants like Warfarin and Bromadioline or Brodifacoum are likely causes of death to local wildlife. These poisons take three to ten days to kill rodents by way of internal bleeding, and during this time, the affected rodent may be taken by a bird of prey, a domestic cat or a dog.
You may have noticed dead animals and birds which have possibly taken baits or perhaps you have noticed that we have less raptors around the Cove like the Whistling Kite this year.
What can we do? Stop using baits is one answer. After all these baits are being taken by native wildlife like the marsupial mouse, native rat, reptiles including the blue tongue lizards and others which are mistaken as vermin.
Wires recommend a safer Rat and Mouse Bait - Racumin Baits which are made of vegetable fats and carbohydrates which are combined to attract rats and mice to eat and work effectively. The Racumin bait is multiple feed bait which means the mammal has to feed a number of times to ingest a lethal does. This way large residues of poison do not build up in the body and therefore reducing the risk of secondary poisoning when a native or domestic predator eats the dying or dead rodent.
Racumin may be a little more expensive than other brands, however because we live in a bushland and most of us have chosen to because we like to live with native animals like Owls, Quolls, Possums, Pythons, Hawks, Eagles, Magpies, Kookaburras and Butcher Birds to name a few and do not want to kill them. All these animals and domestic pets feed on rodents so are vulnerable.
So if you are using baits please consider using the Racumin baits which are a lot safer. The baits can be nailed to a piece of wood to stop them being taken away.
Please pass this information for the benefit of our wildlife.
Maria Pickles
