Rat poison used on illegal marijuana farms may be sickening and killing the fisher, a rare forest carnivore that makes its home in some of the most remote areas of California. (Credit: Image courtesy of University of California - Davis)
According to the article entitled ‘Poisons on Public lands
put wildlife at risk’ published by Science Daily news, the population of
fishers which are rare forest carnivores, may be endangered due to excessive
use of rat poison in illegal marijuana farms. The article states that the
fishers are likely poisoned when they consume animals that have ingested the
rat poison and symptoms are noticed in the victims only after a week which
complicates the situation. This article also states that when 58 fisher
carcasses were analyzed, it was discovered that 79% of them contained
anticoagulant rodenticides. 96% of the fishers were exposed to second-generation
rodenticides which are more toxic since they can be lethal after a single
ingestion. This story has created concern in environmentalists because the
fisher species may be an ‘umbrella species’, so if this species is threatened
to extinction then it could cause the loss of many more carnivorous species
which are linked to it by the food chain.
I would be interested to know if there are alternate methods
to eliminate pests which attack crops without causing harm to innocent species
like the fisher population. Furthermore, it would be easier to devise effective
means to protect this species from exposure to second generation rodenticides, if the
investigators could figure out how these chemicals are reaching mature forests
when they are supposed to be confined to urban and agricultural areas.
I would like to see if there are other options in pesticide use than rat poison, because this article showed that not only fishers are dying, but other animals as well. Such as: martens, spotted owls, and red foxes. It would probably be worth while to promote less harmful pesticides, despite the fact that these farms are illegal.
ReplyDeleteThis article is interesting, in that we usually forget how widespread the food chain is. Ultimately, tipping the balance may raise bad consequences like you mentioned. I would be interested to find out the population of animals that fishers eat have consumed the rat poison and what exactly will be done to these animals. Will they die off or will they have to be taken out of the area in order to prevent fishers from feeding on them. In terms of chemicals reaching mature forests I think it has to do with animals going in search of food and then returning to the forest or even natural means such as rain transporting the rat poison through land to various areas.
ReplyDeleteI honestly feel that the US should take some extreme measures in making sure that they are making an effort to ensure the health of its people and wildlife. The damage that has been done to the wildlife, the people, etc. of this country from the use of chemicals is getting out of hand. Illegal activities should be regulated more. The people who are committing the crimes should be punished. More actions should be taken in order to reduce the production of harmful chemicals that are being emitted into our environment.
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