P-22's condition breaks my heart

Trailblazr80 · Post by **Trailblazr80** » Thu Apr 17, 2014 12:28 am

Just heard about this!

http://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-rat- ... z2z7tJWP1S

longcut · Post by **longcut** » Thu Apr 17, 2014 8:07 am

i was completely unaware of this issue. thanks for posting.

rck · Post by **rck** » Thu Apr 17, 2014 3:19 pm

Yes, thanks for posting this. Never really thought about it and I guess now I do.[/list]

RichardK · Post by **RichardK** » Thu Apr 17, 2014 8:54 pm

I saw the story in this morning's paper. It is all so sad. We humans won't stop until we have killed the planet. This picture is soul crushing.

tracker · Post by **tracker** » Thu Apr 17, 2014 11:04 pm

Read the story closely. The cat has mange - a naturally occurring condition that affects mammals with weakened immune systems. The researcher in charge of the lion monitoring project says that the relationship between the poison and mange is not understood. Hmm.

It seems though, that the author of the story, along with a good photograph, is able to sway the readers into the desired inference.
Legislation will never make people smarter or more responsible.

Trailblazr80 · Post by **Trailblazr80** » Fri Apr 18, 2014 12:35 pm

tracker wrote: ↑Read the story closely. The cat has mange - a naturally occurring condition that affects mammals with weakened immune systems. The researcher in charge of the lion monitoring project says that the relationship between the poison and mange is not understood. Hmm.
It seems though, that the author of the story, along with a good photograph, is able to sway the readers into the desired inference.
Legislation will never make people smarter or more responsible.

Yes, I've read the story. I uderstand...I do appreciate how the significance of the story lies in the issues of rat poison as a pesticide, and I think it's nice to see some information published to at least bring a little awareness to the public, whether they heed it or not. P-22 may have mange, but they did advise they found evidence of poison as well. The correlation may be unknown, but P-22 seems to be inflicted with both, and it is still a sad thing to see, especially since Griffith Park is in my neighborhood and I follow as much of P-22's activity as I can. Hopefully more people will understand the importance of how our wildlife can be affected by the things people use everyday.

Mike P · Post by **Mike P** » Fri Apr 18, 2014 7:12 pm

tracker wrote: ↑Read the story closely. The cat has mange - a naturally occurring condition that affects mammals with weakened immune systems. The researcher in charge of the lion monitoring project says that the relationship between the poison and mange is not understood. Hmm.

Hmm, indeed... Are you suggesting that rodenticides have nothing to do with mange in this particular cat (or Santa Monica Mountain bobcats, for that matter)? The mechanism may not be understood but there seems to be a causal relationship. Fascinating topic... It'll take time to figure out this whole thing, for sure.

tracker wrote: ↑It seems though, that the author of the story, along with a good photograph, is able to sway the readers into the desired inference.

A picture is worth a thousand words. As Trailblazr noted, raising awareness is a good thing, no?

tracker wrote: ↑Legislation will never make people smarter or more responsible.

So true!

tracker · Post by **tracker** » Sat Apr 19, 2014 11:41 pm

We need one of those emoticons where the face is red and standing on a wooden box that says "soap" on it.

I'm certainly not in favor of poisons. They may have their place, but I agree it isn't in the hands of the general public. Maybe P-22's condition and photograph presents a good opportunity to further that goal.
But there other factors that should be figured in before anyone can assume that an action like banning OTC anticoagulants will save wildlife; or prevent a mountain lion living in an urban park from contracting mange.
One of them is the Human Factor - Those not-so-nice things that people deliberately do for reasons too numerous to explain. Ex: I know for a fact that people make home-made concoctions for nuisance wildlife solutions. DeCon is one of the preferred ingredients in these home remedies. The last person that told me they do that said that seeing two coyotes playing tug-o-war with her pet changed her life. Having the City offer to mail her a brochure on how to coexist with wildlife convinced her that she had to take matters into her own hands.
IMHO - This is how the brodificoum is getting into the food chain at the levels we are seeing. Yes, I have told researchers about my experiences.

Mike P · Post by **Mike P** » Sun Apr 20, 2014 10:56 pm

All I can say from a wildlife medicine perspective is that brodifacoum is getting into the food chain as you noted (regardless of how it is getting there) It seems that the link is strong for wildlife problems.

This reminds me of the history of DDT - Wildlife problems appear. Gov't proposes a ban. Companies threaten or file lawsuits. Companies lose legal battle. DDT is banned.

In our case - regarding any of the Vit K antagonist rodenticides - we don't have glamor species involved like DDT's bald eagles, brown pelicans or condors. We'll have to see what happens.

OK, I'm finished boring everyone.

cougarmagic · Post by **cougarmagic** » Sat Apr 26, 2014 8:57 pm

In the researchers own words, if anyone is further interested.

http://www.urbancarnivores.com/laurels-blog/

Mike P · Post by **Mike P** » Sat Apr 26, 2014 9:42 pm

cougarmagic wrote: ↑In the researchers own words, if anyone is further interested.

http://www.urbancarnivores.com/laurels-blog/

Thank you, CM and Ms. Serieys!

Trailblazr80 · Post by **Trailblazr80** » Fri May 02, 2014 10:31 am

cougarmagic wrote: ↑In the researchers own words, if anyone is further interested.

http://www.urbancarnivores.com/laurels-blog/

Thanks for this!

Post by **HikeUp** » Sat May 03, 2014 5:47 am

http://www.postperiodical.com/wildlife- ... picks=true