Raptors Are The Solution (RATS)

09/17/2026

This book, written by Laura Kiesel, a wildlife biologist who is leading the fight against ARs in Massachusetts, comes out early next year!

WOW. Just WOW!

My publisher just shared the high resolution photo for what will be the cover to my book about rat poisons. AND I LOVE IT!!!!

This will be the FIRST BOOK EVER in the US for a mainstream audience that focuses on the problem of rat poisons and how they are affecting wildlife, companion animals, and even people's health (esp children) in the United States. THAT IS RIGHT: there has NEVER been a book-length exploration of this topic for the general public in this country before now.

I interviewed dozens of people, including wildlife biologists, wildlife rehabbers, rodent control experts, veterinarians, people whose beloved pets were sickened or killed by these poisons, poison control physicians who fielded child and adult poisoning incidents, emergency room doctors who have treated epidemic human poisoning outbreaks, former EPA employees, environmental lawyers, and advocates.

You will hear from familiar faces like Jane Newhouse of Newhouse Wildlife Rescue and Tracie Young from Raven Ridge Wildlife Center as they treat foxes with severe mange and poisoning; from Erin Hutchings of Cape Ann Wildlife, Inc as she gets influxes of hawks and owls with severe poisoning; from a rehab supervisor at the Wild Bird Fund in NYC who was the first to receive the report of Flaco being downed and picked him up and declared his passing; Christine Cummings of A Place Called Hope will talk about their struggles to get a real ban going in Connecticut; and Lisa Owens-Viani of Raptors Are The Solution (RATS) as she shares her story about starting RATS and of the winding road to getting a moratorium on ARs passed in California.

You will hear about my meeting MK, KZ and their first fledglings, C26 & C25 in Arlington, and how the loss of C25 and then MK sparked a movement in Massachusetts that began right here in town where they nested.

The book is now available for pre-order. Pre-order sales can help determine in the political and media arena that the topic it covers is important and timely, so if you have the funds, please consider a purchase. You can order from Bookshop, which orders from independent bookstores, and ships in packaging that is plastic-free!! Book will be out in early spring! But the orders make sure there will be enough books ordered and you can get yours early. Link in comments.

09/04/2026

September 5 is International Vulture Awareness Day. Please help protect these raptors by not using rodent poisons. Turkey vulture and crow by Verne Nelson.

08/28/2026

New article about the plight of the Swainson's hawk in CA by writer Joe Eaton and photographer Dave Harper.

by Joe Eaton (Full article from RATS Tales August 2026) The Swainson’s hawk is a tenacious bird. Its population in California has adapted to the loss of historic grassland and riparian habitat in the Central Valley, survived the hazards of long-distance migration and persecution as a presumed chic...

08/22/2026

https://www.aol.com/articles/rodenticide-nearly-wiped-kiawah-island-200200000.html

Kiawah Island's bobcat population collapsed almost overnight, and no one could explain why. The culprit turned out to be something sitting inside nearly every vacation rental on the island, quietly working its way up the food chain.

08/04/2026

CA raptor folks, please consider signing this petition to prevent the CA Building Industry Association from delisting the still vulnerable Swainson's Hawk.

Keep Swainson's Hawks Protected in California

08/02/2026

August 4 is International Owl Awareness Day. One of the best ways to help conserve owls is to not use rodenticides. This young great horned owl is learning to fly. Photo by Pamela Rose Hawken.

07/22/2026

A long tailed weasel takes a break from gopher hunting to pop his head above ground in a poison-free orchard in CA. Please do not use rat poison--it harms these little predators too. Photo by Pamela Rose Hawken.

07/22/2026

07/14/2026

Great graphic about a very beneficial animal.

You stepped out into the dark and there I was by the driveway. I drummed my front paws on the pavement, hissed, and lifted my tail. You bolted. Good — that's exactly what the whole show is for.

I'm the striped skunk who's lived under your brush pile all year. My eyes are nearly useless and I'm slow, so I lead with a warning instead of a weapon. That warning is a gift to you: back off and I never have to fire.

Because firing is expensive. I carry only a few rounds, and refilling takes over a week — a week I'd spend with no defense against owls and coyotes. Spending it on you would be a waste.

What you don't see: I spend my nights tearing open the yellowjacket nests buried in your lawn and eating the grubs chewing your roots.

Speak softly, step back, and I'll waddle off. I've got work to do.

06/30/2026

Your neighborhood has an air force you've never mapped. Four raptors divide your suburb into hunting zones — altitude, prey type, time of day — with almost no overlap. Together, they suppress every rodent and pest bird population within a mile of your house.

The red-tailed hawk claims the highest perch and the broadest view. She hunts from elevation — fence posts, dead trees, light poles — scanning for mice and voles in open grass. She's the daytime, high-altitude, open-ground unit.

The Cooper's hawk works the opposite zone — tight spaces between trees, along fences, through backyards. She's built for speed in dense cover. Her prey is primarily birds — house sparrows, starlings, pigeons — the invasive species that crowd out native birds at your feeder.

The American kestrel — smallest falcon in North America — hunts from wires and antenna tips. She takes grasshoppers, beetles, mice, and small birds. She hovers over fields like a helicopter. She's the micro-predator the larger hawks ignore.

The barn owl works the night shift. Sound-guided, silent, 3,000 rodents per year per family. She covers the hours the other three don't.

Four species. Twenty-four-hour coverage. High altitude to ground level. Open field to dense cover. Birds to beetles to mice.

The network runs itself. If you poison the rodents, you poison the network.