When “MK” was found on the ground in Arlington’s Mount Pleasant Cemetery last winter, the bald eagle was severely anemic, lethargic and struggled to stand. The emblem bird of prey died less than two days later after spontaneously hemorrhaging, rat poison the suspected killer. She was the fourth bald eagle in Massachusetts since 2021 whose death has been connected to rodenticides , the spectrum of chemical pesticides that kill rodents.
What MK’s death spotlighted for many is the grisly byproduct of these pesticides, that they can also kill the animals that eat rodents. Her story has furthered an effort to end the use of second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides (SGARs) in Massachusetts, the most potent kinds of rat poison that prevent blood clotting. “She’s the animal that is pushing this paradigm,” said Rachel Mathews, an animal rights attorney.
Meanwhile, pest management professionals contend rodenticides are one tool of many they can deploy depending on a situation — and an important one, at that. Future anticipated action from the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency on SGARs could also dictate what direction the Commonwealth takes. A rodenticide bait box pictured in downtown Boston. Hadley Barndollar Rodenticides have been used for decades as a tool to manage rodent-related diseases and damage, from urban cities to farmland.
They’re most commonly seen in the form of black bait boxes. The chemicals move through the food web, ultimately impacting predat.
