Here’s some good news I’m celebrating. To promote a healthier environment and enhance public education, the town’s Environment and Open Space Committee has taken a bold step and declared Poison-Free Woodside. Many residents already seek pesticide free approaches, but this effort will help to assure that everyone understands and can comply. I feel blessed to live in a town with deeper than average awareness of environmental issues and the will to always do better.
As I previously shared in the piece What Can We Learn from P-22? anticoagulant rodenticides threaten wildlife from both direct and secondary exposures. There is strong and mounting evidence that these materials can bio-magnify up the food chain in ways not dissimilar to DDT and its notorious derivatives which inspired Rachel Carson to sound the alarm with Silent Spring.
At a recent meeting the volunteer organization, R.A.T.S. (Raptors Are The Solution) presented helpful information for understanding the changing regulations and how to better protect against the poisoning of non target animals. Alternatives, such as the contraceptive approaches now being tested in Seattle show great promise, but we must always be wary of the industry’s tendency to simply substitute equally toxic substances instead of finding true alternatives.
Rather than rush for poisons, residents and the service professionals they employ are encouraged to learn about enhancing habitat for pest rodents’ natural predators. You can receive nest box placement and management support by calling Sequoia Adubon Society’s Cavity Nesters Recovery Program.
