My info may be out of dait, but I thought the main issue with bird deaths from
rodenticides is secondary poisoning after birds eat several rodents that have
been poioned with brodificum baits (e.g. talon). The baits are in wax blocks
and birds don't tend to eat them. The rodents are slow to die and therefore
easy prey. Owls in particualr tend to eat the rodents whole. There is a
cumulative affect as the toxin remains active in the carcassess of the rodents.
I doubt that a bitter additive would change this scenario.
David James,
Sydney
==============================
From: Tony Keene <>
To:
Sent: Monday, 30 May 2011 4:04 PM
Subject: Mice plague and bird deaths
Just been doing a spot of research and I wonder why the companies that make the
mouse and rat poison don't include trace amounts of denatonium benzoate -
apparently birds can detect it at much lower concentrations than rodents. If it
was included in the formulation, it would deter birds from eating the posion
baits and might even be present in rodent corpses in enough concentration to
deter birds from eating those as well. In case you're wondering what the stuff
is, it's also known as Bitrex and is the bitterest substance known - 10 parts
per million can make something inedible to people and they use it in antifreeze
to stop kids drinking it.
Cheers,
Tony
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