Wellesley Girl Scout raising rodenticide awareness
Colleen Behm, a Wellesley Middle School 7th grader and Girl Scout, is seeking to earn her Silver Award by raising awareness of a class of rodenticides that bioaccumulate and indirectly kill raptors and other predators. She’s being mentored by the Natural Resources Commission’s Lisa Moore and Girl Scout Troop 73505 Leader Sally Webster on her Silver Award, the highest recognition a middle school Girl Scout can earn.
“For my project, I wanted to do something to help birds and other predators. I learned that SGARs (second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides) are used to control mice and rats, but are indirectly killing raptors and other predators in Massachusetts,” Behm says.
Behm shared information with passersby on the Brook Path this past weekend. Only 5 of more than 40 people she spoke with were aware of the issue.
The Scout will be sharing information on coming weekends:
- Sunday May 4, 1-3pm, Green’s Hardware
- Saturday May 10, 9-11am, Green’s Hardware
Behm also invites you to fill out a survey about SGAR awareness.
Behm shared this additional info on SGARs:
What are SGARs?SGARs are a type of rodenticide that prevents the blood in the mouse from clotting when the mouse gets hurt. It is a pretty smart way of killing mice without having to deal with the waste yourself but there are side effects. SGARs bioaccumulate – they don’t degrade in the mouse, and instead get passed on to whatever eats the mouse – a fox, owl, raptor, coyote. SGARs build up inside predators, eventually killing them too.
What is the impact of killing raptors?
If you think killing one raptor is not a big deal, you are wrong. A great horned owl (one of the 8 owl species found in MA) can eat around 12 mice per night. That is 84 mice per week. 360 mice per month. That is 4380 mice per year. Raptors need so many mice, so they hunt over a large area to get enough to eat. So by killing raptors you are not only increasing your rodent problems by getting rid of their natural predators, you are also increasing rodents in your whole neighborhood and sometimes even town.
How else can I get rid of mice?
You might be thinking that you don’t want to kill raptors, but you also don’t want mice to live in your house. With just a little work you can block all the holes in your house (exclude) with steel wool and spray foam. You could starve them by eliminating food sources like bird seed stored in your garage. You can target them with raptors and snap traps. As a last resort, use non-SGAR bait (not glue traps because birds and pets can get stuck in them) like vitamin D3 for a short time use only.
Other resources:
Get information about other efforts to protect Massachusetts’ raptors: Mass Audubon Rescue Raptors Campaign
Support a current bill to restrict the use of SGARs in Massachusetts: Massachusetts SGAR bill