Right here’s why poisoning rodents is a horrible thought

Modern civilization has collectively decided that rodents are bad. We tend to see most of the other creatures considered “pests” like ants, cockroaches and other insects the same way, but rodents are really the only group of mammals that routinely kill people in their own homes without a second thought . For this reason, gnawing chemicals have become very popular, and setting up a store-bought mouse and rat poisoning system can be accomplished by the average homeowner in just a few minutes.

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Unfortunately, even if you agree to kill every rodent on your property, it can ultimately have unintended side effects. In a new article published in Environmental Research, scientists in Europe are studying the numbers of rodenticides and other chemicals found in the bodies of birds of prey. The data is shocking to say the least and should make you reconsider your decision to poison rodents in the future.

For the study, researchers from various German institutions have teamed up to examine tissue samples from birds of prey in the region. The bird bodies, collected over a long period from 1996 to 2018, showed shockingly high levels of chemicals popular in pest control. In fact, over 80% of some of the species studied had detectable levels of the chemical in their liver tissues, and between 14% and 18% had enough that it could have caused their deaths.

But even if a bird is not killed by acute poisoning, symptoms can emerge that ultimately result in its death earlier than usual. In an area where birds of prey are experiencing rapid population decline, this research may have been a major driver of that decline revealed.

“Rodenticide poisoning is a major cause of death for birds of prey,” the researchers write. “Species that voluntarily trap are at high risk of exposure to rodenticides. It appears that urban areas pose a major risk for birds of prey in terms of exposure to rodenticides, although the level of exposure is not related to urban gradient. “

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This is bad news for both the birds (and the dead rodents, of course) and humans. Birds of prey are a natural form of pest control, and by poisoning their prey, we ultimately poison them too. The death of these birds causes rodent populations to boom, which leads to more venom being used, which leads to more birds to die. It’s a vicious circle that we need to get under control as soon as possible.

Incredibly, the rodent-killing chemicals weren’t the only frightening substances found in the birds’ livers. The researchers also discovered human medicines like ibuprofen in over 14% of the birds examined. It’s unclear exactly where these drugs could have come from, but scientists suggest that more research is needed.

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See the original version of this article on BGR.com