Photo Album

As mentioned above, Deborah O. Raphael from the San Francisco Department of the Environment spoke at the
event and said that the City now had placed a temporary moratorium on the use of rodenticides which we are
very hopeful will prevent wildlife poisoning from reoccurring in our city parks in the near future.

In April the Integrated Pest Management Technical Advisory Committee met and listened to comments from the
Golden Gate Audubon Society, Golden Gate Raptor Observatory, Hungry Owl Project, and SF ROMP.

On May 22, 2007 Cris Geiger from the Department of the Environment presented revised rodenticide policies to
the Commission on the Environment and these were approved. There are 3 single feed rodenticides
(difethialone, bromadiolone, and bromethalin) covered by the "Limited Use of Special Concern" policy.
These rodenticides are now restricted only to sewer lines and to commercial establishments on City property
that are not adjacent to landscaped or natural areas, and only after less-toxic measures have been tried. The
Department of the Environment can grant permission (at a public hearing) to use these pesticides only if a
determination is made that all non-chemical rodent control options have been unsuccessful AND if there is a
clear threat to public health, safety, or welfare, as determined by the Department of Public Health.

These changes in the allowed use of single feed rodenticides place much greater restrictions on their use, and
forbid their routine use in all City parks and habitat areas.

The Limited Use of Special Concern policies on these rodenticides apply only to City-owned or -leased
properties. Other property owners (private residences and businesses) are not governed by them.

The City will explore the use of rat-proof refuse containers, public outreach regarding prohibition on feeding
wildlife, and monitoring rat populations.

Thanks to everyone, hopefully this will have a beneficial impact on wildlife in San Francisco.

Some may be surprised that the City is using poisons at all in the parks, especially if you know about the
Integrated Pest Management (IPM) ordinance adopted in 1996

O.K., here's where it gets a little complicated but spend 5 minutes checking this out and you'll have the general
gist of it:

In October of 1996 the City of San Francisco adopted an Integrated Pest Management (IPM) ordinance. Click
here to read all about it: IPM As they mention on this web page, getting 35,000 city employees in 80 separate
departments to use the IPM policy is a “Noble challenge”.

Inquiring minds want to know:
So, afterwards we took a walk through the Botanical Garden to see for ourselves what some of the causes of the
Rat problems Golden Gate Park (GGP) are. It didn't take long.

The follow up story:

What a day for a Release Party - picture
perfect weather!
We arrived to the SF Botanical Garden early -
Another Red-shouldered Hawk flew overhead
calling loudly and continually so we pointed it out
to several of the media folks gathered

Deborah O. Raphael from the San Francisco
Department of the Environment proclaimed a
TEMPORARY moratorium on rodenticide use in
the park. Jamie Ray from SF ROMP (pictured
above far left) spoke about the issue of rodenticide
use and the EPA public comment period

News cameras whirred, radio interviewers
questioned and a group of children were thrilled to
see such a magnificent bird at such close range
Someone pointed out the gardener that had found
the bird and she was thanked for turning in the
bird to SF ROMP who transferred it to WildCare for
recovery

Overheard one of the reporters confide "I can’t
believe how emotional I’m getting about this"

We briefly searched to see if it perched to preen
nearby, but did not find it. About 15 minutes
later we saw a Red-shouldered Hawk quickly
flying overhead from the direction that the
released bird had flown. It joined another Red-
shouldered Hawk above the center part of the
Arboretum. We suspect it may have been the
bird that was calling earlier but there is no way
to tell. We speculate (fantasize?) that the first
calling Red-shoulder was the mate in waiting
and somehow knew that it’s partner was in the
cage below. But obviously there was know way
for us to know that and our anthropomorphism
meter lit up wildly

A personal note: we're very sympathetic to the
gardeners and park staff who have to deal with
rodent problems caused in large part by well meaning
but uninformed residents and visitors. Gardeners, by
nature are generally very caring people who love to
see nature and life thrive.

Putting them into the position of having to kill an
invasive species that is causing a great amount of
destruction (in this case Norway Rats) to their efforts
does not sit well with them.

They are in a tough spot here so let's try to help them
out

Open, frank discussions on the real and perceived
problems the City is up against and implementation
of the best, most humane practices that result from
those is an ultimate goal.

First, a little background -

The problem with Norway Rats: The Norway Rat actually originated in Central
Asia, not Norway. During the 16th and 17th centuries as trade between humans
greatly increased it widely spread across Europe aboard trading vessels and
overland. During the American Revolutionary War, Norway Rats arrived in America
stowed away in boxes of grain on ships with Hessian troops hired by the British to
fight the Colonists. Their ability to cause death and destruction to humans is very well
documented. Occasionally referred to as our “closest urban competitor” they are
major carriers of disease such as bubonic plague, spotted fever and typhus. They
have been known to cause huge amounts of property destruction including fires
(chewing on electrical cords), floods (tunneling through dams) and decimating
human plant and food stores.

1. Probably the number one food source in GGP that enable rats to
multiply, well, like rats, is people feeding wildlife. One can stroll through
the Botanical Garden on any given day and see dozens of people
feeding squirrels, ducks, geese, gulls and even pigeons. In fact, after the
Red-shoulder “release” party we documented eight people feeding
wildlife in the SF Botanical Garden in only five minutes.

Of course, this behavior is against the law, but there is inadequate
signage and zero enforcement of the ordinances associated with it. We
asked them and most of these folks don't even know it's illegal

And truthfully who hasn’t enjoyed seeing a child’s eyes light up when
one of these beautiful creatures approaches closely for a hand out?

(See a proposed solution below)

2. Another, more controversial
behavior enjoyed by a small
minority of people that feeds
Norway Rats is what many
conservationists refer to as
“the feral cat people”

This small, but very politically
vocal group insists on setting
up dozens of feral cat “feeding
stations” throughout the park in
order to feed the large quantity
of abandoned and outdoor
domestic cats that for lack of
any other, call the parks there
home or hunting ground.
Guess what, when night comes,
the rats quickly clean out the
feed stations and may share
whatever diseases they carry
on the hapless animals that
share those dishes during the
day. It's not a good situation.

A couple more issues, one very thorny:

4. Illegal camping in the park: No matter where you sit on the sad homeless problem in San Francisco one
thing is for sure: Homeless camps are major magnets for rodent infestation.

5. Choice of plants: To a lesser degree the choices the GGP gardeners make on the flora they plant affects the
rat equation. Cape Ivy is a well known favorite shelter and a plant that can quickly grow out of control. Fruiting
plants while beneficial for many native fauna can also become an attractant. While I am in no way
recommending that the fabulous and educational San Francisco Botanical Gardens flora be dramatically
altered there are no doubt some changes in plant structure throughout the park that may offer less habitat
suitable to Norway Rats.

Yeah, OK, but what about some practical solutions?

Well, this is where we're hoping you may come in. From our work with the Hungry Owl Project,
Golden Gate Raptor Observatory and the Golden Gate Audubon we've put a fair amount of time into
thinking about these perplexing issues but we know there is much more. Already Dan Murphy (GGA
Conservation Comm) came up with a great idea for the wildlife feeding issue we list below. Please,
share yours!

The City has been mostly receptive to new ideas especially if they don't cost much.

Anyway, we've separated known solutions to Norway Rat problems into three simple categories:
that in our opinion are Bad, Better and Best:

Another aspect of Norway Rat behavior that needs to be
considered is that they are primarily a nocturnal species.
However as we’ve found out, when poisoned, Norway
Rats are more likely to be caught out during the day by a
hawk or falcon when in a poison stupor. Our guess is that
we have lost more nocturnal raptors (Owls) than diurnal
raptors due to rodenticide use in the park. The problem is,
most all the feeding goes on at night and well out of the
sight of visitors. If folks that were feeding wildlife saw rats
devouring the food they were offering and running across
the toes of their children then they would most likely stop
that behavior. That’s not what many of them see, but that
is what is happening.

The easy, but a bad solution:

Frankly, it’s hard to believe that we are still having conversations about getting poisons out of our food and
ecosystems in 2007. The theories of food webs and chains were proven back in the 1960’s when scientists
discovered DDT and other chlorinated hydrocarbons accumulated in fatty deposits of organisms and
concentrated as they moved through the “food chain” causing death and disease not only to wildlife, but
even to humans. Chlorinated hydrocarbons were eventually banned locally in the U.S. but are still
persistent and sold by U.S. manufacturers in Central and South America where they are sometimes carried
by migrating birds and insects back into the U.S. Note: Supporters of pesticide and rodenticide solutions
offer that the side effects are worth it and the overall positive effects outweigh the negative impacts.

Less lethal but still highly dangerous poisonous concoctions are still widely available on store shelves
without prescription and widely used by homeowners, businesses and government to combat pesky
insects and rodents. Thousands of children in the U.S. each year are made seriously ill and some die due
to accidental ingestion of these over the shelf poisons. The toll on wildlife and pets is tremendous but due
to the difficulty and expense in detection, not as well known.

Suffice it to say, I think all reasonable people can agree it’s a serious modern concern.

So, why do poisons persist? First of all, it’s an easy out to a tough problem. In an outdoor situation the
person placing the bait may never even see the Norway Rats. You put the poisons out, the Norway Rat
population diminishes. Wildlife (and rarely humans) might die but so do the rats. What one might
occasionally see is an animal that has ingested the poisons convulsing violently while it internally bleeds
to death often leaving a trail of blood as it spends its last moments in excruciating pain often crawling into a
dark space to succumb. Homeowners who have used rodenticides have described horrific scenes, coming
home and finding trails of blood throughout their house and complaining that these results were not listed
on the packaging.

Also, there is the huge multi-billion dollar chemical and pest control industry with very deep pockets and
political muscle that has been fighting any laws that limit or eliminate use of pesticides and poisons. This is
well documented so no need to go into details or name names here. Less discussed however is the effect
these fights have had wasting time and funds that could be used to further research on more bio-friendly
and ethical treatments to our rat problems

The best solution – Updating and fully implementing a Natural, Integrated Pest Management
approach:

1.        Removal of the super abundant food sources offered by humans is the fundamental first step to
         implementing an Integrated Pest Management strategy
a.        Signage and enforcement of “no feeding of wildlife” ordinances
b.        Removal of feeder stations
c.        Installing rat-resistant refuse containers
d.        Evaluating plantings from a pest food value perspective.

Easier said then done of course, each of the steps above requires some funding and the first two steps are
going to be challenged by the aforementioned groups. Public and wildlife health concerns easily trumps
these group’s challenges but that has not stopped them from mounting legal and illegal hurdles that will
frustrate and attempt to intimidate city workers. One suggestion that has already been made by a member
of the Golden Gate Audubon Conservation Committee to ameliorate the well meaning wildlife feeders is to
have areas set aside just for that purpose. Folks would be able to purchase more appropriate food for the
particular animals they want to feed (rather than the wildlife “junk food” that is more often the case) and the
proceeds from that could go towards end of day cleaning of that area to remove food that the Norway Rats
would consume at night.

2.        Encouraging natural predators. Both diurnal and especially nocturnal raptors are probably hands
down human’s best friends at Norway Rat control. It is estimated that a single Barn Owl family of two adults
and five owlets can consume up to 3,000 rodents in a single season. Diurnal raptors (Hawks and Falcons)
also greatly contribute to this score. The primary diet of somewhat more controversial urban predator
species including coyotes and foxes is also rodents. Note: Unfortunately our handsome native Gray Fox
species is being usurped in many areas by yet another human introduced species (this one introduced on
purpose, for hunting), the larger Red Fox which is causing problems for some of our threatened and
endangered birds. As mentioned above, we have probably lost many of our owls to rodenticide use. We
have had very low counts of Great Horned Owls in GGP on the last few Christmas Bird Counts and no Barn
Owls have been detected. There is appropriate habitat, so we suspect they are being poisoned. Also, nest
box programs for Barn and Screech Owls work. The Hungry Owl Project in Marin has probably doubled the
number of Barn Owls (a species that is dramatically declining in many other regions in the U.S.) by
convincing ranchers, vineyard and home owners to install Barn Owl boxes and agree to not use poisons
on their property                             RESOURCE: www.hungryowl.org

3.        The illegal camping is of course a much stickier wicket and I’ll leave that one to folks that are much
more informed than I about how best to deal with this huge ongoing problem.