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Cholecalciferol Rodenticide

With the passing of  “California Ecosystems Protection Act of 2020”, the public will likely be hearing a lot more about a toxicant called Cholecalciferol rodenticide.  Cholecalciferol rodenticide is vitamin D3 and as such is a non-anticoagulant toxic bait. It is one of the few rodenticide active ingredients that wasn’t banned in California’s sweeping Ecosystems Protection Act of 2020. You may think that California banned all rodenticides but that would be false. California’s ban focused on a group of rodenticides known as second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides (SGARs). Even though California did severely restrict SGARs, the law did have several exemptions that allowed SGARs to be used in certain limited circumstances. Nevertheless, the law was a sweeping one and if the review process confirms that SGARs should remain banned, Californians will have to use alternative rodenticides and methods to manage rodents. Cholecalciferol is one of those rodenticides that will be tasked to fill the gap left by SGARs.

What is Cholecalciferol Rodenticide?

Cholecalciferol
Molecular model of Vitamin D3 (Cholecalciferol) by Ben Mill/Wikimedia https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Molecuulmodel_Vitamine_D3.png

Cholecalciferol is a rodenticide which kills rodents by causing too much calcium to circulate in their system. Calcium is carefully regulated in animals and changes of  in calcium levels of only 10 to 15%  can cause life-threatening changes in the animal’s bodily system.

Is Cholecalciferol Rodenticide Effective?

The LD50 for Norway rats is 42.65 mg/kg and 43.6 for house mice. Rodents receiving a lethal dose typically die within 3.5 and 10.2 days. House mice and Norway rats typically die sooner than roof rats. Of course, the toxicant can kill other animals that are directly exposed to the toxicant, a phenomenon called non-target primary poisoning.

Is Cholecalciferol Safer than SGARs?

While no rodenticide can be considered safe, it does appear that cholecalciferol is safer than SGARs in regards to secondary poisoning scenarios.  For example, house cats appear to be resistant to this toxicant so if safety for cats is a high priority, this toxicant would make a good choice. The verdict is a little more mixed for domestic dogs as they appear to be more sensitive to the rodenticide’s toxic effects. In addition, cholecalciferol is less toxic to birds which is a also a plus.

Please note that even though cholecalciferol can be used on organic farms, the chemical can kill. Too often people think that just because something is organic that it must be safe. Nothing could be further from the truth. All rodenticides pose risks. The level of risk depends on a variety of factors. Always treat rodenticides as dangerous and follow label instructions religiously.

Stephen M. Vantassel, CWCP, ACE, is the owner of Wildlife Control Consultant, LLC. He helps people restore their balance with nature through publishing, training, consulting, and the internet. He has published numerous articles in trade and academic publications available at {Stephen’s Academia.edu Page} along with several books {WCC Store}). Listen to his podcast “Living the Wild Life” at {Pest Geek Podcast}. Please subscribe to {Stephen’s YouTube Channel} He is a sought after speaker and trainer. If you would like to have Stephen speak at your event or use his consultation services, send an e-mail to [email protected] Copyright All postings are the property of Stephen M. Vantassel and Wildlife Control Consultant, LLC. Text (not images) may be reprinted in non-profit publications provided that the author and website URL is included. If images wish to be used, explicit and written permission must be obtained from Wildlife Control Consultant, LLC.

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Best Raccoon Bait

Have you ever wondered what is the best raccoon bait? Raccoons (Procyon lotor) have such diverse diets and in urban areas, are exposed to such a diversity of foods, what exactly is the best bait to lure them into a trap? Research by William F. Andelt and Timothy P. Wooley, published in an article entitled “Responses of urban mammals to odor attractants and a bait-dispensing device.” in the Wildlife Society Bulletin 1996, 24(1):111-118. This blog post will focus on their findings as they pertain to raccoons.

Cage-trapped Raccoon. Photo by Stephen M. Vantassel.
Cage-trapped Raccoon. Photo by Stephen M. Vantassel.

Research Design

The research took place in Fort Collins, Colorado, a city at an elevation of 1,470 meters. The research occurred April to May 1988 and 1989 and in the latter half of August in 1991. The weather conditions during those periods was a temperature range of 48  to 70 degrees Fahrenheit with rainfall of 1.3 and 1.75 inches. Relative humidity was between 60-65%. They established scent stations 875 to 1750 yards apart. Each station consisted of a 3-foot diameter circle with sifted soil (to see tracks) and a bait dispenser placed in the middle. They established a visit to the station to be if more than one track of an animal occurred in the circle. They also evaluated whether the bait stick was disturbed or not. They tested chicken eggs (beaten and uncooked), fatty acid scent, Hawbaker’s Raccoon Bait, cornmeal deep fried in corn oil, Carmen’s Coon Lure #1, and water. Water constituted the control. Three milliliters of attractant was used at a station.

Results of the Bait Test

Not all the baits were tested each year. Carmen’s lure and Hawbaker’s lure were used in different years. The best bait to initiate visits and bites to the bait stick was deep-fried cornmeal. Interestingly, fatty acid scent, eggs, and the Hawbaker bait did not elicit a biting response by raccoons. Note that in one year, the visits by raccoons was very low. This is believed to have been caused by a suspected distemper outbreak, which is known to kill 50% of the racoon population. You should also know that squirrels liked the deep-fried cornmeal too.

 

Stephen M. Vantassel, CWCP, ACE, is the owner of Wildlife Control Consultant, LLC. He helps people restore their balance with nature through publishing, training, consulting, and the internet. He has published numerous articles in trade and academic publications available at {Stephen’s Academia.edu Page} along with several books {WCC Store}). Listen to his podcast “Living the Wild Life” at {Pest Geek Podcast}. Please subscribe to {Stephen’s YouTube Channel} He is a sought after speaker and trainer. If you would like to have Stephen speak at your event or use his consultation services, send an e-mail to [email protected] Copyright All postings are the property of Stephen M. Vantassel and Wildlife Control Consultant, LLC. Text (not images) may be reprinted in non-profit publications provided that the author and website URL is included. If images wish to be used, explicit and written permission must be obtained from Wildlife Control Consultant, LLC.

 

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Y Stick

The Y Stick

I had been fairly happy with using “y” sticks as holders for bait in my cage traps. They were cheap (free) and worked really well. But my honey moon was soon over when I started having some problems. Some times I would have to spend too much time searching for bait sticks. It seemed that some residents kept their property cleared of broken branches and trimmed their trees. It just didn’t look good raiding some bush for a usable “y” branch.  Sure I would stock up on them when I had the chance but they would sometimes break as from the jostling they got in the back of my truck. Traps moving in and out, bait containers being tossed inside would be too much for the dry sticks to handle. I needed another option.

PVC bait stick and y stick
PVC bait stick (left) and the Y bait stick (right)

The other problem with the “y” stick was that the two ends protruded above the cage. You might not consider that a big problem. It isn’t when the weather is warm and dry. But I live in New England. I often want to protect my bait and trigger area from snow and rain. The “y’ stick prevented me from laying stones or boards above this area. Doing so would only break the sticks or roll the angle of the stick into a bad angle making it too easy for an animal to misfire it. I needed another option.

In comes the PVC bait stick. I think I learned this from Rob Erickson but my memory could be wrong as there was another gentlemen in the Massachusetts and Connecticut area that also mentioned it. Anyway, the principle of the PVC bait stick is the same as the Y stick but with additional benefits. First, it is durable. Second, it disperses odor from the paste bait better. Finally, being white, it shows up better in low light conditions, which I think enhances the enticement for animals.

If you would like to create your own PVC bait stick, just watch the video below.

 

Want to learn more about baiting cage and box traps, take our 1 hour training course.

Stephen M. Vantassel, CWCP, ACE, is the owner of Wildlife Control Consultant, LLC. He helps people restore their balance with nature through publishing, training, consulting, and the internet. He has published numerous articles in trade and academic publications available at {Stephen’s Academia.edu Page} along with several books {WCC Store}). Listen to his podcast “Living the Wild Life” at {Pest Geek Podcast}. Please subscribe to {Stephen’s YouTube Channel} He is a sought after speaker and trainer. If you would like to have Stephen speak at your event or use his consultation services, send an e-mail to [email protected] Copyright All postings are the property of Stephen M. Vantassel and Wildlife Control Consultant, LLC. Text (not images) may be reprinted in non-profit publications provided that the author and website URL is included. If images wish to be used, explicit and written permission must be obtained from Wildlife Control Consultant, LLC.

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Determining the Best Bait

People often ask, “What is the best bait?” Bait formulations is kind of a dark art in wildlife control. Bait manufacturers have the aura of the ancient alchemists, those who can turn the common material into gold. Unfortunately, determining the best bait takes time and a diligent record keeping. But if you are willing to do the work, you will be rewarded.

So how does one go about determining the best bait? You could go on various wildlife and pest control group pages and ask for suggestions. While that is a really easy tactic and can help you find some quality baits, it may not help you find the bait that works in your area. You also have to consider that some of the comments may be biased in favor of a particular brand of professionally manufactured bait due to unstated relationships.

A better method would be to consult with reputable bait manufacturers. The best bait manufacturers will have years of trapping experience and refuse to overhype their bait. They will tell you straight out when to use and when not to use a particular bait.

But if you want to know how to determine the best bait on your own, then I would suggest the following steps. First, select three baits that you want to test. Let’s call them Bait A, B, and C. Next you want to know how well these baits work on a particular species, say skunk. Take a notebook and create four columns. Column 1 is the date and columns 2-4 will be labeled bait A-C respectively. Gather your traps, you will want to be sure that you will use three traps at every skunk job. Set all three traps in an identical manner, such as distance from the hole or trail. Since this is often impossible to do, you will need to randomize the order, so that at Job 1, trap with Bait A will be closest to the hole, and at Job. 2 Bait B will be closest to the hole and so on. Use care not to cross contaminate traps with other odors. You should flame or wash your traps between jobs so that “clean” traps are used each time.

Trap placement when testing three different baits.
Trap placement (A, B, C) around the skunk den entrance to test bait attractiveness. Image by Stephen M. Vantassel.

After about 20 jobs or so, evaluate your data. Which bait had the most success? If it isn’t clear, keep at it. Ideally, you want to do this for an entire year or at least for each season. Sometimes some bait works better at certain times of the year. You may find that all three baits work the same. Let the data teach you. Once you have an answer, you can then study other baits by the same process.

 

Stephen M. Vantassel, CWCP, ACE, is the owner of Wildlife Control Consultant, LLC. He helps people restore their balance with nature through publishing, training, consulting, and the internet. He has published numerous articles in trade and academic publications available at {Stephen’s Academia.edu Page} along with several books {WCC Store}). Listen to his podcast “Living the Wild Life” at {Pest Geek Podcast}. Please subscribe to {Stephen’s YouTube Channel} He is a sought after speaker and trainer. If you would like to have Stephen speak at your event or use his consultation services, send an e-mail to [email protected] Copyright All postings are the property of Stephen M. Vantassel and Wildlife Control Consultant, LLC. Text (not images) may be reprinted in non-profit publications provided that the author and website URL is included. If images wish to be used, explicit and written permission must be obtained from Wildlife Control Consultant, LLC. Stephen M. Vantassel, CWCP, ACE, is the owner of Wildlife Control Consultant, LLC. He helps people restore their balance with nature through publishing, training, consulting, and the internet. He has published numerous articles in trade and academic publications available at {Stephen’s Academia.edu Page} along with several books {WCC Store}). Listen to his podcast “Living the Wild Life” at {Pest Geek Podcast}. Please subscribe to {Stephen’s YouTube Channel} He is a sought after speaker and trainer. If you would like to have Stephen speak at your event or use his consultation services, send an e-mail to [email protected] Copyright All postings are the property of Stephen M. Vantassel and Wildlife Control Consultant, LLC. Text (not images) may be reprinted in non-profit publications provided that the author and website URL is included. If images wish to be used, explicit and written permission must be obtained from Wildlife Control Consultant, LLC.

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Homemade Bait Dispenser 

Toxic bait dispenser for applying baits for ground dwelling animals don’t seem to be professionally manufactured. Fortunately, you can build your own homemade bait dispenser with some simple tools and materials.

The following homemade bait dispenser is made of 1/4-inch rod (about 30 inches), a washer, split rivet, and an end section of 1-inch copper pipe.  Bend the rod to form a handle on one end, then flatten the other end and drill a hole through it to take the split rivet.

1 tsp bait dispenser
1 tsp bait dispenser. Photo by Stephen M. Vantassel

Drill a hole through a section of pipe and use the washer on the inside of the pipe. Measure the volume of the pipe section with water against a standard measurement (be it teaspoon or tablespoon, depending on the toxicant you plan on using.  Grind or cut the pipe to match the needed volume.

It’s a great way to dispense bait around burrows of ground dwelling animals. Just be sure to ONLY use the device for toxicants.

Stephen M. Vantassel helps property owners resolve conflicts with vertebrate animals. He has written several books, including The Wildlife Damage Inspection Handbook, 3rd ed.

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