A B.C. resident says she鈥檚 concerned for the safety of her pets after learning that an owl, which was found dead on her property Thursday, was killed after it ate rat poison.

Christine Trozzo, who lives on South Surrey, noticed an abnormally lethargic barred owl perched high in her birch tree on Wednesday.

With a hunch something wasn鈥檛 quite right with the bird, she called Orphaned Wildlife Rehabilitation Society (OWL), based in Delta.

OWL raptor manager Rob Hope told Trozzo that it was unsafe to retrieve the bird because of how high it was in the tree, but told her to keep an eye on the animal and call him immediately if the bird moved to the ground.

The next day, Trozzo found the bird鈥檚 body in her yard.

Later that day, Hope went to investigate how the bird had died, and said that the juvenile owl was in perfect health, but it 鈥渏ust dropped dead.鈥�

鈥淛ust examining the bird myself, from what I saw and where the bird was found. The fact that the bird is healthy, mouth is pale, and there鈥檚 a little bit of blood there. It appears that it was a poison,鈥� he said Friday. 鈥淲e鈥檙e 90 per cent sure it鈥檚 poison.鈥�

Hope said that the owl most likely ate a poisoned rat. After a rat ingests poison, which contains the chemical bromadiolone, it becomes lethargic, making it an 鈥渆asy target鈥� for birds of prey.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 exactly how it happened,鈥� Hope said. 鈥淥nce that bird ingests it, the bird鈥檚 got days before, of course, it will die. It鈥檚 an anticoagulant. Basically, the bird is bleeding and there鈥檚 no stopping it.鈥�

Trozzo, who owns two small terrier dogs, said she was 鈥渞eally upset鈥� to learn of the cause of death. She said she will be posting a bulletin around her neighbourhood to warn pet owners and young parents to be extra cautious when out for a walk.

鈥淢y dog, a while back, killed a squirrel. I don鈥檛 imagine that they would ever eat it, but I thought geez murphy, that鈥檚 dangerous to animals. Never mind just birds, and what about children?鈥�

Hope shared Trozzo concern over a child inadvertently eating rat poison.

鈥淲ho鈥檚 to say a kid鈥檚 not going to be the next one to go?鈥� Hope said.

Hope said that rat poison is required to be locked in a stationed box, however, there鈥檚 a chance that the rat could grab the poison and remove it from the box.

He said the poison is a 鈥渃ool blueish green colour,鈥� and that it may attract the eye of a young child.

OWL will send the dead raptor to a federal agency for a toxicology test, which Hope expects will confirm his suspicion that the owl was poisoned.

Raptors dying from eating poisoned wild life happens 鈥渕ore often than not,鈥� and just last month, Hope retrieved two dead barred owls 鈥� both suspected of dying from poison 鈥� from the same area in North Vancouver.

鈥淎s far as pure numbers go, we don鈥檛 know鈥� but it鈥檚 definitely out there. There鈥檚 no ifs, ands or buts about it. It does happen,鈥� Hope said.

Hope said the OWL organization are advocates for rat traps and 鈥渞emoving poison from the environment.鈥�

鈥淚t鈥檚 not only birds, but it鈥檚 dogs, cats, kids. Almost anything is susceptible to it.鈥�

Trozzo said it鈥檚 鈥渃ommon knowledge鈥� that there are rats in South Surrey, and that people should use traps instead of poison.

鈥淲hat鈥檚 wrong with people?鈥� she said.

aaron.hinks@peacearchnews.com
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