Last week, Landcare Tasmania got to chat with Tasmanian Country Hour and Huon FM on the issue of rodenticides and the harm they bring to native wildlife.
Tas Country Hour
On Thursday 10th June, Landcare Tasmania's Acting CEO Peter Stronach got together with a panel of specialists and farmers on ABC Radio's Tasmanian Country Hour.
The segment features a great balance of perspectives on the issue, including a farmer who had been using second-generation rat poisons to control rodent populations in her sheds.
"Just like many farmers, Fiona has used second-generation poisons in the past. In fact, she has only just emptied a forty litre bucket of bait" ABC reports.
"We're all very aware of the impact of baiting on our cats and our dogs, because nobody wants to poison their pussy cat, or dog, and yet we seem to be completely blind to all the other animals that we are living with" said Fiona.
Fiona said that "when you look at the shelf in the hardware store, it is rather overwhelming."
Pete explains that the companies can make it tricky to tell what you're buying, but it can be as simple as looking for the CAUTION or POISON labels on the packet.
Raptor specialist Nick, along with Greg from Bonorong, provide some really good insights into the impacts of these poisons on raptors, and Pete explains what to look for when choosing less harmful poisons. We highly recommend listening to the insightful segment.
Huon FM
Then, to keep the conversation rolling, Pete Stronach got together with Huon FM to talk rodenticide awareness, as well as Citizen Science, and a bit about what Landcare Tasmania really is! Give it a listen here:
If you want to know more, we recommend reading this article outlining some of the events and news coverage for Rodenticide Awareness Week, and this article for a good brief on rat poisons and their impacts on birds of prey and other wildlife.
If you're interested in events we've got coming up related to raptor protection and citizen science, check out our outreach events calendar here.
