rodenticides imperil a wide range of wildlife
Barred Owl
—Photo by Mdf
Excerpted from an article by Rob Smith in ecoRI News
PROVIDENCE — Earlier this year, the head of Brown University’s bird-watching club called Sheida Soleimani.
The student had found a barred owl, usually a nocturnal creature, in the middle of the day, sitting on the pavement near the Faculty Club on Bannister Street. Next to the owl, said Soleimani, was a rodenticide box, filled with anticoagulant poison designed to kill rats and mice.
Soleimani is one of the state’s few wildlife rehabilitators, and the only one that focuses mainly on Rhode Island’s bird population. For the state’s bird-lovers, when they find a sick or dying bird, Soleimani is the 911 call.
When she picked up the barred owl, it was limp and trembling. Its eyes were half open, its entire body bruised, and blood was dripping from its beak. The owl died within hours, another casualty of an accidental poison in its food supply.