Sign the Poison Free Pledge
The poison free pledge is a commitment to live poison free to help keep owls and other wild animals safe.
Take Action!
I pledge to only use nontoxic forms of rodent control, and to do my best to remove all attractants such as outdoor food, water, and other things that may be causing rodents to proliferate in a way that humans become irritated by their presence.
By signing the Poison Free Pledge you agree to receive emails from Hungry Owl Project and WildCare.
Why Sign the Poison Free Pledge?
Rat poisons—also called rodenticides—are one of the leading contributors of death to owls in the wild. While people who use poison to kill rodents are often unaware of the danger to other animals, the effects are nonetheless catastrophic. After a rodent eats poison bait, they often become sluggish and are easy prey. Owls—and many other types of predators—rely on rodents for food but when they eat these poisoned rats and mice, they become sick or die themselves.
A comprehensive study done by WildCare showed that 76 percent of animals tested showed exposure to rodenticides! While our efforts to get the most harmful types of rat poisons removed from shelves are already underway, one of the best things that you as a consumer can do is to simply not support the companies that make these poisons. By voting with your wallet, you remove the incentive for companies to keep producing poisons year after year.
What Else Can You Do?
The best way to control populations of rodents is to remove what is attracting them. If you see a rat in your yard once in a while, a little tolerance goes a long way. Removing their food sources (fruit trees, open garbage, wood piles, etc) is the best way to naturally reduce their presence without using poison, or even needing to resort to lethal methods. Since rats and mice have a relatively short natural life span, simply removing what is causing them to proliferate is a winning strategy and has the smallest environmental footprint. For more information, see our page on nontoxic rodent control.
Share Why You Signed
Have you already signed the Poison Free Pledge? Tell your friends why you signed!
Use hashtags #PoisonFreePledge and #HungryOwlProject. And be sure to direct people to the pledge page, hungryowls.org/pledge.
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