Bobcat Kitten Rescued
updated: Jul 05, 2012, 2:00 PM

By Julia Di Sieno

Today we landed another dying bobcat kitten that tested positive for rodenticide poisoning. Several Vets, as well as our team vets are doing all we can to pull this innocent 10-12 week old kitten thru this horrible suffering. PLEASE everyone, think outside the box before you use or lay down D-Con, Tomcat, or any other Warfarin poisons. Sadly its NEVER the intended animal that dies an agonizing death.

Our org. needs your donations to help off set the cost. Please help us help our native wildlife in distress.

Thank you,

PLEASE read attached.

Alternatives to Anticoagulant Poisons For the sake of our native wildlife, please use alternatives to rat poisons. Integrated pest management is an excellent alternative to widespread poison use. Replacing anticoagulants with another poison is not a practice we encourage. The bottom line is that no poisons available on the market in the U.S. have zero risk of unintended consequences for wildlife. The best pest control is to encourage natural predators. Nesting boxes and perches for owls can be installed around your homes (see HungryOwl for more information).

The next best step to take is to take a preventive mode of action. Rodent proof your homes by sealing up holes. Remove unnecessary vegetation and trash in your yard that could be homes for small mammals. If ground squirrels are a problem, remove food and water sources such as bird feeders and baths!

Finally, once you've taken the above steps, try mechanical traps. Wooden snap traps and electric zappers are good for within home use. Just be careful with using snap traps outside. You might catch and injure other wildlife such as raccoons, opossums, coyotes, owls or other birds that will also be attracted to the bait. If you have pets, they too could fall victim to snap traps. Here's some suggestions for particular pests:

Rats and Mice The rats and mice that people target in southern California may be both native and nonnative rats and mice. The most frequent method of rodent control used worldwide are anticoagulant rodentcides. However, we recommend NOT using any poisons at all! Whether you use the poisons inside your home only, or both in and outdoors, you put other wildlife at risk of being poisoned too. Plus, pets and children are not immune to the effects of these poisons either.

Are there safer, effective ways to control rats and mice?

Yes! Visit www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PDF/QT/qtrats.pdf for details.

Seal holes inside and outside buildings to prevent entry by rats and mice. Keep areas clean and free of crumbs and water. Seal food in rodent-proof containers. Use snap-traps instead of baits whenever possible - a lot of them, set at night. Keep the traps indoor where wildlife such as raccoons, coyotes, oppossums, etc. won't become accidental victims of the snap traps. In extreme cases, call a qualified professional. We recommend companies that are certified by EcoWise or GreenShield.

Gophers Within the southern California area, a lot of people consider our native pocket gophers a big problem around their gardens and lawns. Pocket gophers are strictly herbivorous, and will often pull plants into the ground by the roots to consume them in the safety of its burrow, where it spends 90% of its life. The burrows of this species may reach lengths of more than 150 meters. The main predators of pocket gophers include badgers, coyotes, long-tailed weasels, bobcats, snakes, skunks, owls, and hawks. Despite their many predators, they are frequent targets of poisoning, particularly with the use of anticoagulant rodenticides.

Prevention and Control Once you become aware of unwanted gopher activity, it is important to act quickly. Once a tunnel system is in place, other gophers can quickly replace any you may drive away. Various methods can help to repel gophers, but very few are foolproof. Some plants such as gopher spurge (Euphorbia lathyrus) and castor bean (Ricinus communis) have been reported to deter gophers because they exude a poisonous substance from their roots. Research shows that neither of these are consistently effective repellents. Putting substances in gopher tunnels -- used kitty litter, rags soaked in predator urine or pine oil -- works for some gardeners. Ultrasonic noisemakers provide only short-term relief.

The most effective controls are exclusion and trapping. In small beds, gardeners can create cages or baskets to protect prized plants. Dig a 2- to 3-foot-deep hole in the planting area and line the sides and bottom of the hole with wire mesh. Replace the soil and plant your garden. Protect trees with wire mesh guards placed a few inches below the soil line and 2 feet up the trunk. If need be, use traps to kill problem gophers.

The use of poisons, particularly anticoagulant rodenticides, is not recommended, no matter how bad the problem! Gophers do not necessarily die in their burrows, and anticoagulant rodenticides can take up to 10 days to kill an animal once it has ingested a lethal dose of the poisons. Thus, predatory animals can easily be exposed to the poisons by preying on already poisoned (but not yet dead) gophers. If you are interested in traps, click here to learn more about those options.

Deer Although most people think of Bambi as a cute forest creature with retiring behavior, due to an growing population, deer have become a major garden pest throughout the country. Although they tend to keep to forest edges and fields grazing on grasses and leaves, they become more daring when food is scarce, venturing into suburban yards. Deer graze and browse leaves, stems, and buds of many woody plants, as well as alfalfa, roses, corn, vegetables, and fruits. Their damage is evident because they leave jagged leaf edges on the eaten plants, not to mention distinctive cloven hoof prints and bean-shaped droppings. Control

Although deer will eat anything if hungry enough, given a choice they tend to stay away from succulent plants, poisonous plants, pungent flavored plants, and plants with hairy or furry leaves. Plant ornamentals with these qualities in areas of heavy deer traffic. Some gardeners have had success using human hair, dog hair, soap, blood meal, rotten eggs, hot pepper, or predator urine spread around or on flowers and trees. Deer can be scared away by motion sensor devices attached to lights or loud music. Of all the methods, though, fencing is the most reliable. It's best to erect the fence before Bambi has found your garden or yard.

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