Being Responsible With Pesticide Use

Recently, in the news, there was an article about 13 bald eagles found dead in Maryland.  As of this writing, there has been no definitive reason for the deaths, but poisoning is suspected.  Now, this could be a case of intentional poisoning, which would be horrible, or an accidental poisoning from pesticides or something similar.

Many times people use pesticides to rid themselves of a nuisance pest and never think about whether any other living thing will be harmed as well.  In the case of the eagles, it could be that they found themselves catching prey that had been in an area that was sprayed with a pesticide, thus poisoning themselves over time.  Or maybe they ate prey that had been poisoned with a pesticide.  Think about that last scenario.  Do you use rat poison?  Probably that rat isn’t the only thing attracted to the poison.  Other animals may inadvertently be poisoned by eating it as well.  You can’t ensure that only rats will eat it.  Or maybe your family cat will eat the rat that has been poisoned and also be poisoned.

Even plants can be affected by collateral pesticide damage.  Killing weeds with one product may kill off those beautiful flowers you painstakingly planted and nurtured.  Or the tomatoes you eat can have residue of that pesticide on them you sprayed to keep the bugs at bay.  Now you and your family are sick.  And, believe it or not, there are good insects as well as bad ones.  Most people hate spiders and may use insect spray to rid their homes of them.  But spiders catch and eat other pests.  Killing them takes away a natural predator of those pests.

One thing you can do to make sure you are targeting only the pest you are trying to get rid of is to consult a professional pest control company.  These companies have licenses for the processes they do and can explain any negative effects of the products.  For those homeowners that take it upon themselves to treat plants with pesticides or put out poison to kill rodents and other pests, consider what other things you are killing off or making sick.  I’m sure if it turns out those eagles were accidentally poisoned by pesticides or the such, the person applying the pesticide didn’t intend to kill off our national symbol.  Be an informed consumer before you attempt pest control yourself.

You can count on your team at Sunstate Pest to use the right pesticides, in the corrects amounts and to never endanger the environment.