Rat Poison is Wildlife Poison: Rodenticides (particularly SGARs) are indiscriminate, killing rats and mice, but also killing the owls, hawks and eagles that naturally reduce rodent populations in Belmont and surrounding towns.
Alternatives to rodenticide poison baits exist that do not kill our birds of prey yet bait boxes containing SGARs are all over Belmont, including town owned land. Rodenticide poisons are also a danger to children, yet SGAR containing bait boxes surround our schools.
The Save Belmont Wildlife working group seeks to
- Educate town residents, businesses and town administration rodenticide poisons
- Promote a swift transition to safer and more effective alternatives for rodent control
- Support Massachusetts legislation controlling the use of SGARs
- Investigating the need/possibility of a bylaw that encourages effective alternatives to SGAR poisons in Belmont
We invite you to view a recording of our kickoff meeting April 13 th 2023 – thanks to Jeff North for leading the discussion here.
Save Belmont Wildlife working group
If you would like to help…
SaveBelmontWildLife@gmail.com
If you are interested in learning more:
- https://www.raptorsarethesolution.org
- https://www.belmontcitizensforum.org/tag/rat-poison/
- Local Bald Eagle MK died from SGAR Poisoning 2023
https://www.boston.com/news/local-news/2023/02/28/bald-eagle-mk-arlington-
critical-condition-suspected-rat-poisoning/ - Owen survived (minus one eye) https://www.boston.com/news/local-
news/2023/04/03/owen-owl-faneuil-hall-released-rodenticide-poisoning/ - Rodenticide are killing animals way up the food chain.
https://www.salon.com/2021/12/26/rodenticides-sgars-unsafe_partner/ - https://www.cbsnews.com/boston/video/massachusetts-wildlife-advocates-want-rat-
poison-regulation-to-prevent-owl-eagle-deaths/#x - A review: poisoning by anticoagulant rodenticides in non-target animals globally
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6395208/pdf/jvms-81-298.pdf
Pending Legislation that needs your support (as of April 2023):
- S. 487/H. 825: An Act relative to pesticides
https://www.mspca.org/animal_protection/rodenticidebill/ - S.540/H.814: An Act empowering towns and cities to protect residents and the
environment from harmful pesticides https://malegislature.gov/Bills/193/S540