Column: Something is missing from my yard this spring. Rat poison might be why.

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • May 2, 2026

I haven’t seen a chipmunk in my yard since November. Perhaps there’s a particularly talented short-tailed weasel haunting my neighborhood. They prowl my yard in some winters, but I usually see them or their tracks when they’re around. I fear that the reason I haven’t seen a weasel this year is for the same reason I haven’t seen a chipmunk. Rat poison. The poisons-du-jour are known as second-generation rodenticides, or SGARs. They are anticoagulants. A critter that ingests the poison dies from internal bleeding. The poisons are contained in bait stations sized for rodents, too small for pets or other animals to enter. The problem is that any predator that later eats the rodent gets poisoned by proxy. SGARs are working their way up the food chain. ~ Bob Duchesne