SB Audubon Monthly Evening Program: An Alternative to Rodenticides: Ventura County’s Raptor Pilot Study for Levee Protection

The Ventura County Watershed Protection District (WPD) maintains 56 dams and over 40 miles of levees which are highly susceptible to rodent burrow damage from ground squirrels. WPD developed and completed a Raptor Pilot Study to determine if owls and hawks can be attracted to a flood-control levee and provide better protection from ground squirrels than traditionally applied rodenticides. Join us to learn more about the exciting findings of the 17-month empirical study–that the damage at an area where raptor perches were installed was significantly less than damage at a similar reach where traditional anticoagulant bait stations were used.

Dr. Karl Novak is a civil engineer and Deputy Director with the Ventura County Watershed Protection District. He served as Director of the Raptor Pilot Study.