Sad wildlife

[altivo]

We hit 81 or 82F again today, depending on which thermometer I believe. But I think the end of the heat wave has arrived now. About 3:30pm a dark cloud front passed through with high winds and a fairly heavy splatter of rain. The rain stopped but it's cooler and heavy overcast now. More rain is expected through tomorrow and the weekend, with next week's temperatures back in a more normal range for March. That is, well above freezing most of the time still, but cold enough for jackets and sweaters.

Gary e-mailed me at work this morning to say that he had found a large raccoon in a semi-conscious state and having apparent convulsions out in the arena near the hay storage. He called animal control and did not mess with it, which is wise because we aren't trained or equipped to deal with a sick or injured wild animal. A technician arrived in due time and sedated the animal, taking it away in a pet carrier. I imagine it will be put down and examined for disease or poison. She said rabies has not been reported or proven in this area yet, at least in raccoons, but distemper is widespread. Deliberate or accidental poisoning could produce the symptoms as well, as could a spinal injury. The latter seems unlikely because the animal was almost 200 feet from the road where it might have been hit by a vehicle, and had no visible injuries. We'll probably get some kind of report back eventually.

Then just at dusk, Gary was leaving to go to his choir practice and came back into the house and called me. He had found a squirrel behaving the same way, lying on the edge of the driveway. I went out and confirmed that it was either a spinal injury, poisoning, or some kind of disease affecting the nervous system. I sent Gary on to his practice and got a plastic manure fork from the barn. Using that tool, I picked the squirrel up as gently as possible and moved it to a semi-sheltered spot in a pile of leaves in the woods. I'm sure it will die, though. This one may have had bite marks from a dog, but I didn't risk handling it to examine it closer. I suppose we should call and have it picked up tomorrow.

Hopefully that is the end of this incident and we won't be finding more maimed wildlife, but given the fact that Gary has been seeing and trapping rats around the house and barns, I have a bad feeling that some neighbor has put out poison bait and we are seeing the consequences.

Comments

[hrrunka]

a bad feeling that some neighbor has put out poison bait

Ugh. :(

[shadow_stallion]

You think the neighbors poison has run the rats to your place and that some of the wild animals are getting into the bait? As you said though, hopefully you've seen the end of it.

*smirks* I know it's not a laughing matter but this reminds me of my neighbor chastising me for using a pest service. "You're just going to make the bugs come over to my house." :P

[altivo]

Yes. It's unfortunate that such products are still readily sold to people who have no idea what they are doing with them or how wide the consequences can be.

The rat population in the whole area is apparently up this year. I've heard several complaints from folks living within a 20 mile radius. We were reluctant to deal with spring traps but when a whole litter of rats appeared under the back deck we had to do something decisive.

[altivo]

Rats probably don't travel far once they are poisoned. A 15 or 20 pound raccoon that eats a bait packet, however, will take longer to react and can go quite a distance before becoming sick enough to stop traveling. Since the baits usually consist of grain sweetened with molasses or something, raccoons and squirrels certainly will eat them if they find one.

The very mild winter here has likely combined with other cyclical factors to increase the rat and mouse population.

[hrrunka]

Yeah, inappropriately deployed bait is a menace, but I hope it is the explanation; a disease outbreak would be much more worrying. :(

[chibiabos.livejournal.com]

I hope animal control keeps you informed. If the neighbors are using poison bait, and some wildlife is making it to your property, couldn't your dogs be at risk if they found and ate a poisoned animal?

I'd also worry for that fox, of course. Have you spotted her lately? I would expect that she would be thrilled to have a surplus of rats about, but would be susceptible to eating a poison victim, if not eating the poison bait herself.

[altivo]

Yes, I'm worried about the vixen. We haven't yet seen or heard her this year.

The squirrel had disappeared from where I left it last night, and I could find no trace of it, so I share your concern that a fox or dog may have taken it. I'm quite sure it could not have recovered on its own and left.

I have less concern about our dog, because he never goes outdoors unescorted. Also, having a Labrador brain means he's hungry all the time but doesn't seem to recognize moving objects as potential food. He'll eat anything you hand him, but he ignores dead birds on the ground.

The potential for getting nasty poisons into the food chain was the reason that we chose to use spring traps for the rats. We caught about eight, and then thought we'd eliminated them. Now I've seen one again, but it seems to be too smart to get trapped.