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The ban on rodenticides has been extended in Richmond.

Photo via Wikimedia Commons

City extends ban on rodenticides

By Angel St. George

Published 12:42 PDT, Fri April 8, 2022

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Despite Richmond being ranked the sixth-“rattiest” city in British Columbia by Orkin, Canada’s largest pest control company, rodenticides will continue to be banned on city-owned property until Jan. 31, 2024.

The city assumed all general rodent management activities on city-owned and private property from Vancouver Coastal Health in March 2021. Staff developed and implemented a community-based initiative that focuses on rodent exclusion techniques, education and stewardship, and customer service. Supported services are consistent with the city’s Enhanced Pesticide Management Program and include educational resources, community support, private property assessments, and enforcement.

In July 2021, the province enacted an 18-month ban on second-generation rodenticide, with exceptions made for agricultural operations and businesses related to health services, the food industry, and transportation. At a recent city council meeting, staff recommended continuing the local ban and council members voted in favour.

The additional year beyond the provincial ban is intended to allow more time for staff to review scientific data that is expected from the province in 2023.

“Let’s face it—with the history we’ve had here, (the ban) probably will continue after January 2024,” said Mayor Malcolm Brodie during the council meeting.

According to a city staff report, typical environmental programs of this nature include three to five years of monitoring data to begin to understand trends effectively. Staff intend to focus on a number of areas including monitoring and encouraging opportunities for natural predation against rodents.

Staff have also developed Richmond-specific rodent management content for the city’s website, including non-chemical solutions for rodent management.

Runoff from areas treated with pesticides can pollute streams, ponds, lakes, and wells. Pesticide residues in surface water can harm plants and animals and contaminate groundwater. Water contamination can affect livestock and crops downstream.

Second-generation pesticides are more potent than first-generation anticoagulants and they can kill after a single feeding. The toxic compounds in the poison will remain in animal tissues, particularly the liver, so they pose greater risks to other non-target species that might feed on them.

These lethal concoctions are so strong that they could potentially kill an animal with three degrees of separation from initial contact—for example, an animal who has eaten another animal that had itself ingested a poisoned rodent. That is largely why second-generation anticoagulants are no longer widely available.

Anticoagulant poisons are a blood thinner and result in a relatively unpleasant death by inducing a state of confusion or altered mental status caused by brain haemorrhaging. First-generation rodenticides require the target animal to consume the poison for a number of successive days before irreversible damage occurs.

Although some people may find rats cute, they are generally considered to be dangerous because they harbour a number of diseases that can be spread to humans. Another reason to keep a close eye on rodent populations is the depletion of resources, since rats and mice like to make their nests close to food sources such as the dumpsters of food handling facilities.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, rodents were forced to become bolder during the daytime because there was less food waste being produced for them to forage through at night, according to Orkin. This meant that residences at the periphery of restaurants and food handling facilities may have become more susceptible to rodent infestations.

Orkin says anecdotal evidence shows that, like humans, rodents become more aggressive and adhere to the concept of “survival of the fittest” in response to a lack of resources. Their aggression goes so far that there is evidence of cannibalism among rodent populations. Young, old, and weak rats can be eliminated by healthier adults. Bold and aggressive rats are more likely to attack other animals, including humans, and are likely to pass on aggressive genes and behaviour to their offspring, according to Orkin.

Locally, the battle between humans and rodents remains cause for concern.

“It’s extremely important that we get to people doing demolitions, to make sure that they trap the rats first,” said Coun. Harold Steves during the council meeting. “What happens is that when we knock down a house, (the rats) move next door. Two years ago we lost about six houses, all within one or two blocks, and (the rats) all headed over to our place. We’ve got resident owls, and it took about one or two years to get rid of (the rats).”

Orkin says people can prevent the growth of rodent populations by sealing any cracks or holes in a home’s foundation, keeping shrubbery trimmed back at least one metre from a home’s exterior walls, eliminating moisture sources like clogged gutters or water gathering in trash bins, and inspecting property for signs of rodent droppings and burrows.