Rodenticide Free Ontario

05/11/2026

Rodenticides don’t just stay
in rodents.
Predators like owls, hawks, and foxes eat poisoned prey and suffer secondary poisoning, often dying days later from internal bleeding or organ failure.
Gardening Success Tips

05/07/2026

A pest control company charges $40-80 per month for rodent management. The bait they set is brodifacoum — a second-generation anticoagulant that kills the mouse over three to five days. During those days, the dying mouse becomes easy prey for the owl, the hawk, the fox, and your neighbor's cat. The poison moves up. The company comes back monthly.

Four animals were running rodent control on your property before the bait station arrived. The poison you hired killed them too.

The barn owl hunts by sound alone — her asymmetric ears triangulate a mouse under grass in total darkness. A single family removes over 3,000 rodents per year. Cost per rodent: functionally zero. The bait station costs $8.11 per rodent.

The red-tailed hawk works the day shift from your fence post. Her diet is 85 percent small mammals. She produces zero secondary poisoning.

The rat snake works the interior — your barn, your walls, your crawl space. She goes where bait stations can't.

The red fox pounces through grass at dawn, aligning her strikes with Earth's magnetic field. She removes 3,000 to 4,000 rodents per year.

The pest company replaced a team of four. The replacement killed the original staff. The mice came back. The invoice didn't stop.

05/04/2026

Rodenticides do not address the root cause of an infestation. Alternative approaches to poisons do exist, and a transition to chemical-free methods can be done with relative ease. Rodent-proofing by addressing the active and potential access-points in a structure is an essential first step. In some cases, snap traps may be temporarily necessary if rodents have made it indoors and present an immediate threat (please do not use glue traps). However, as rodents are known to not stay indoors, companies that provide poison free solutions such as use one-way doors to clear and permanently seal the structure.

Food and other resources that attract rodents must also be secured or eliminated. Note that it is in the economic interest of pest control companies that use poisons to ignore these steps, as permitting such conditions to persist invites new populations of rodents to invade, thus giving rise to continued business.

Responsible rodent management checklist:

✅️Place garbage in a secure container not garbage bags.

✅️Rinse recyclables well.

✅️Do not burn food in a fire pit.

✅️Remove all food sources

✅️Do not feeding any wildlife including birds.

✅️Do not leave your companion animal's food out.

✅️Pick up and dispose of your companion animal’s f***s.

✅️Keep your BBQ clean and away from your house.

✅️Keep your house mouse clean, not human clean. A mouse can survive on the equivalent of half of a kibble of dog food a day, to put this in perspective.

✅️Remove brush and branches from against your dwelling.

✅️Seal all entry points into your dwelling or hire a professional to rodent proof your dwelling. Rodents can squeeze into a hole the size of a dime.

DM us or email [email protected] if you have any questions.

04/29/2026

Wild Rats

I died today and here is why:

I wandered into your garden, you had lots of food laying around for the birds, far more than they could eat, so I thought, “I’m hungry I'll just have a nibble.” I came back the next day and the next; you kept putting lots of food out for me.

Then you noticed me.

“Ewww! A dirty rat!” I heard you say. The next thing I know a man comes along with boxes. I heard him telling you all the harm I will do if he doesn’t kill me, all the diseases I supposedly carry. In reality I would never have done you any harm. Think about it – how many people do you know that have caught anything from me? But I ate the poison; I didn’t feel well; my tummy began to hurt; I felt ill; my agony intensified. Then five days later, I died.

I heard you saying someone had poisoned a cat and how cruel it was, but you have just poisoned me, how is that different? I'm not anyone's pet but I feel pain, I suffer, so why is ok for me to suffer this way? Your actions did not only affect me, Mrs. owl caught my poisoned brother and fed him to her babies. Now they are all slowly dying, because of you!

If you didn't want me there the answer was simple, take away the food supply, clean up your mess and I won't bother you. I would have just moved on. The man with boxes says I must die, but he gets lots of money from killing my kind.

So what happens now? I'm gone, you'll keep putting the food out and my friends will move in, the whole cycle will start again. Think before you put poison down—it is cruel, it is unnecessary, it is dirty. https://www.facebook.com/HumaneWildlifeSolutions/

04/27/2026

Coyote Watch Canada joins national coalition of other animal protection and environmental organizations in condemning Health Canada’s decision to allow emergency use of strychnine in Alberta and Saskatchewan to kill Richardson's Ground Squirrels. This dangerous reversal ignores previous science-based bans and threatens wildlife such as canids, reptiles, birds of prey, pets, and fragile prairie ecosystems.

As our Founding Executive Director Lesley Sampson states: “The cumulative impact of liberal predator killing and strychnine poisoning is contradictory and is creating an unbalanced, unhealthy ecosystem. Poisoning programs, killing contests, and bounty incentives impede the essential prey-predator balance, drive systemic suffering for native wildlife, and undermine the natural checks and balances healthy landscapes depend on. We need more predators on the landscape—not more strychnine.”

Canada needs science-based, humane solutions that work with nature—not cruel poisons that harm ecosystems.

Learn more and take action:
https://www.coyotewatchcanada.com/site/blog/2026/04/21/poisoned-policy-why-canada-must-reverse-the-emergency-return-of-strychnine

Infographic: Coyote Watch Canada | Wolf Awareness Inc.

04/20/2026

If you have not done so yet, spring is a great time to rodent proof your home. Responsible rodent management DOES NOT include rodenticides.

The claim that preventative rodent management "prohibitively expensive" compared to rodenticides reflects an outdated mindset focused on short-term costs over long-term value and public wellbeing.

Let’s think about an ongoing, never ending contract for poisons compared to a 1 time visit from a company that properly seals up your home or business. Keep in mind that most of these companies that actually deal with rodent intrusion and properly seal your home, DO NOT use rodenticides and warranty their work too!

Rodent exclusion may require some upfront costs, but it will certainly pay off in the long term by eliminating the need for recurring poison subscriptions that perpetually expose communities, loved ones and other beings to toxic chemicals. When entryways are sealed, it is important to humanely evict rodents if they are sealed indoors via live trapping (check the trap mulitple times daily or, via installing a one way door).

Environmental justice demands that there is equitable access to safe, non-toxic pest control methods to protect all communities, particularly those already overburdened by environmental hazards.

If you are looking for a truly humane wildlife removal company that does not use rodenticides please DM us or email [email protected]

Please like, share and ask your friends, neighbours, family and co-workers to never use rodenticides or glue boards.

04/14/2026

A Place Called Hope

Lady Mae lost her life this past March due to ingesting Rodent Poison. This is not only a "wildlife" problem, but our domesticated pets and small children are also at risk.
We can do better... Choose non-toxic alternatives along with Sanitation and Exclusion.
RIP sweet girl... our hearts break for all the victims of these poor choice methods to mismanage rodent issues.

04/14/2026

Join us at the Trent Lakes Public Library on Wednesday, April 29th at 1:30pm.

https://libraryaware.com/3BW1SF

04/13/2026

North Country Wild Care
Poison is NOT the answer. ☠️🐾

When it comes to dealing with rodents, it might seem like an easy fix, but rodent poisons don’t just affect rats and mice. They create a deadly chain reaction in our ecosystems.

Wildlife like hawks, owls, foxes, and even bald eagles are being poisoned after eating contaminated prey. In fact, studies have shown that the vast majority of tested wildlife had been exposed to rodenticides, especially the long-lasting types that build up in the food chain.

And here’s the hard truth:
👉 There is no such thing as a “wildlife-safe” rodent poison.

🌿 So what CAN you do instead?

Safe, effective alternatives include:

✔ Sealing up entry points around your home
✔ Securing food sources (trash, bird seed, pet food)
✔ Removing nesting materials
✔ Encouraging natural predators like owls
✔ Using deterrents instead of poisons

These methods don’t just protect wildlife, they often work better long-term by addressing the root of the problem.

🐾 Why this matters

Rodenticides don’t stay where you put them.

Animals eat the bait directly
Predators eat poisoned rodents
Scavengers consume contaminated carcasses

This ripple effect harms countless non-target animals and is something we see far too often in wildlife rehabilitation.

💚 Be part of the solution

Choosing safer alternatives helps protect:

Local wildlife
Pets
The balance of our ecosystems

Poison might seem like a quick fix but in reality, it comes at a devastating cost to wildlife, pets and even children.

If you share one post, please let it be this one. So much information that needs to be shared!

04/09/2026

On any given day walking the streets of a city like Toronto, we have the pleasure of encountering free-living beings — coyotes, foxes, birds of prey, raccoons, and squirrels — sharing urban space with us. Amid the chaos of city life exists a connection to the natural world that many of us cherish, admire, and feel compelled to protect. There is a genuine curiosity about these individuals, a desire to observe them and learn from them — and a responsibility to ensure they are not harmed by our choices.

In honour of National Wildlife Week, we are shining a light on the harmful and far-reaching impacts of rodenticides — commonly known as rat poisons. These devices are everywhere: black bait boxes outside businesses, schools, places of worship, malls, and private homes. Most people walk past them without a second thought. But the consequences of their use extend far beyond the target species.

Rodenticides cause immense suffering to rats and mice, but the harm does not end there. Once these animals ingest the poison, they return to the broader ecosystem — and any animal who consumes them is exposed as well. This cycle of bioaccumulation moves up the food chain, threatening entire populations of species. Owls, foxes, coyotes, and numerous birds of prey are commonly found to have rodenticide compounds in their systems.

Read our full blog post to learn more: https://www.animalalliance.ca/national-wildlife-week-rodenticide-awareness/

Woodlands Wildlife Sanctuary Rodenticide Free Ontario