Rat poison bill on tap for the NH Legislature

Legislation to be considered in the NH Statehouse next year would place restrictions on a type of rat poison known as second-generation anticoagulant rodenticide.

Rep. Nicholas Germana, D-Keene, is a co-sponsor on a bill that would limit access to these chemicals to professionally licensed applicators.

This type of rodenticide stays in a rodent’s system longer than previous types. It kills by preventing the animal’s blood from clotting, so it bleeds to death.

“What happens is that raptors eat these mice, eat these rodents, and there is significant evidence that there is impact on our raptor population,” Germana said in a recent interview.

“If somebody were to use these chemicals on their own property and a neighborhood dog or cat were to eat an infected mouse, or whatever, it could also have an impact on any animal.”

NH Audubon has a warning on its website:

“Use of anticoagulant poisons, especially second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides (SGARs) often result in secondary poisoning of native wildlife, including hawks, owls, eagles, bobcats, fishers, foxes, and other predators.”

Two years ago, the NH Legislature killed a bill to prohibit use of this type of rodenticide, except in certain cases.

Germana said the bill to be considered next year would restrict but not prohibit their use.

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“Rats adapt quickly to other options,” he said. “They are incredibly smart, incredibly adaptive animals. The argument is that it has to be available in some cases.”

The bill is aimed at addressing concerns that people might use these rodenticides when other prevention or eradication methods less harmful to wildlife could be used instead.

Other ways of limiting rodent populations include rat or mouse traps, natural repellents, habitat management such as cleaning up debris and trimming vegetation, as well as sealing up points of entry into structures.

The measure will be considered next year by the NH House Environment and Agriculture Committee.

Germana, who is a member of the committee, said there appears to be bipartisan agreement that this type of bill would be preferable to a more restrictive ban on this rodenticide.

The exact wording of the bill hasn’t been published yet, but the earlier bill that didn’t advance classified second-generation rodenticides as those containing brodifacoum, bromadiolone, difenacoum or difethialone.

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Rick Green can be reached at 603-352-1234, ext. 1435, or rgreen@keenesentinel.com.

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