“It’s definitely concerning,” agreed Andrew Vitz, an ornithologist with the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife, which in 2021 recorded the state’s first two cases of Bald Eagles dying from these poisons. “It’s both alarming and surprising,” said Mark Ruder, an epidemiologist at the University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine, who has documented widespread exposure to these rat poisons in eagles across the United States. Reactions to my purchase among experts familiar with the hazards of these products ranged from shocked to annoyed. It contained 12 pounds of waxy pink seed-size pellets laced with brodifacoum, a chemical engineered to trigger massive internal bleeding and hemorrhaging when digested, whether by rat, dog, bird, or child. But a few days later, a big plastic bucket was waiting on my doorstep. In fact, I had doubts as to whether the package would actually arrive. To be clear, I never intended to use this product.
The top customer review said, “Kills them all, but the dead mice smells is not what I need,” which sounded like a solid testimonial.
It cost $69.99, its delivery was free, and it had a 4.8-star rating. After clicking around for a few bewildered minutes, I ordered something called Motomco D 31402 Jaguar Rodenticide Pail Pest Control. I plugged the word “brodifacoum” into Amazon’s search bar, and a second later my screen filled with what are known as second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides, a class of rat poison so dangerous to humans and wildlife that the Environmental Protection Agency strove to keep them from being sold in consumer stores. On a lazy July morning I was in bed browsing Amazon when I decided to follow up on a tip I had received. My shopping spree was born out of boredom.
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