Poisons Don’t Stop at Your Property Line

The Palisadian-Post has partnered with locally founded environmental organization Resilient Palisades to deliver a weekly “green tip” to our readers. This week’s tip was written by Sheda Morshed and Ryan Craig.

Nestled between the Santa Monica Mountains and Pacific Ocean, the Palisades sits in what ecologists call a wildland-urban interface: an area where humans and wilderness interact.

These mountains and the Bay provide critical habitat to a host of species. Additionally, when their systems are balanced, they provide humans silent but critical “ecosystem services”—including soil retention, pollinators, flood control, nutrient cycling and climate mitigation.

Palisadians live in the interface and therefore have a responsibility to follow certain science-supported, and often common sense, best practices. Nature is resilient, but after decades of irresponsible human activity and policy oversight, it is collapsing all around us.

This collapse is setting off a domino effect of irreversible problems for Palisadians and Angelenos. We are not separate from nature. What we do at home directly affects the health and fragile balance of these ecosystems and its players.

Let’s consider the case of rodenticides.

Mice and rats are a common problem in the Palisades. But killing them with rodenticides is not the answer.

When a mouse or rat consumes rodenticides on your property, it carries the poison for hours or days as it slowly dies. Along the way, and even after its demise, these poisoned animals often become easy prey to beneficial wildlife that provide many silent services to us, from mountain lions to hawks, owls and other birds … and even our pets.

A recent analysis found that 85% of the surrounding wildlife in California have had rodenticides in their system. The use and sale of rodenticides have been banned in our neighboring Malibu.

Working with nature rather than against nature is the wiser way to approach mice and rats. The Hungry Owl Project and Santa Barbara Audobon Society offer a combined three-pronged approach to successfully eliminate the need for rodenticides:

Invite predators: A barn owl has been estimated to consume between 1,000 and 1,500 rodents each year, and far more affordably than the cost of poisons. Install an owl box on your property. Learn more at Hungry Owl Project.

Introduce deterrents (and human exclusions): Light, sound and scent are effective ways of deterring mice and rats. Once per month, spray a peppermint oil solution outside your doorways. In addition, close off all other entryways into your home: Rats can squeeze into any opening larger than a quarter-inch. Use steel wool or mesh screen to close off roof soffits and air vents, including your laundry’s vent.

Avoid attractants:
a. Food: Secure all food, including bird seed, grass seed and pet food. Secure your trash bins, too. Keep fruit trees on the outer edges of your property, and toss some rubber snakes on the tree’s limbs to help keep mice, rats and squirrels away.
b. Water: Pests will stick around any easy water source. Fix all leaks, keep your pet’s water bowl inside and avoid outdoor planter dishes that retain water (which also tackles mosquito breeding).
c. Nesting: Remove ivy and other thick vines from around your home and keep bushes and hedges at least 24” away from structures.

Unless we are intentionally creating a city portrayed in some futuristic SciFi movies—devoid of nature and her services—poisons are not the answer. Visit Hungry Owl Project and Raptors are the Solution (RATS) to learn more.