SCREW the EPA. Really, a bunch of overpaid, over staffed ignorant jerks. From my personal experience with them. Ban everything that is bad, especially over 1 case out of 300,000,000 people. I believe it was negligence on the parents, but even then it is hard to be overly harsh to the parents without a proper investigation. So people please put away the torches and pitch forks, step back, and lets get the truth.

The only solution is to take children from their parents, all children, and raise them by the nanny state. We can then raise them to love the government who provides for all and regulates every action. Hence, parents won't be responsible for anything or any neglect.

Just one more step to take more control over our lives. This stuff is dangerous though. Alot of wildlife, owls hawks etc... are dying from this stuff as well. Parents are there and should be protecting their kids, the wildlife have no way of knowing that catching a staggering rat that is dying of poison will kill them too.

I agree with Lucy1. There has to be a better way than poisoning to be rid of rats. If people would clean up after themselves and make sure garbage is in impenetrable cans, the rats would go somewhere else. If you have mouse, rats or roaches, you aren't keeping a clean house.

Problem is if your neighbors have them you will DEFINITELY get them. Rats can chew through anything. Drywall, wiring, EVERYTHING. Even if your house is clean, they will get in and find something to gnaw on. Next thing you know the EPA will try to ban bullets because everyone will be shooting the rats and each other!

It's the same thing which happened with Halloween costumes and auto parts. For instance...any costume with a cape has the warning "Not to be used for flying". How about the automotive fan belt..."Change only with car off".

There is an easy fix to this "problem":

1. Don't put poisonous chemicals where children can access them! Duh!

2. Use traps baited with non-toxic food to catch rats and then kill them mechanically or by drowning. This protects wildlife from being poisoned.

you are so right, just like the old saying, close the gate after the horses get out. Parnets are the problem, just like guns don't kill, it is some of the people with them..I live on a farm, this summer we were overrun with grasshoppers, our whole area. Went to the feed store, no product available to kill grasshoppers, EPA got rid of all of them. Settled for Malathon which killed about 50% when mixed a lot stronger then recommened and now it is going off the market. Result no grass for livestock or no garden.

so should we all send a great big thank you note to the EPA for protecting us from ourselves? If YOU are so stupid as need this kind of protection, there is more wrong with you then meets the eye. that simple.

These are the same dolts who realeased the damn Asian beetles into our fields. How's that workin out for ya?

Now the EPA wants us all to live with rats.
Thank Obama for this one.

Too many wild birds are killed as collateral damage. There are (albeit more expensive) traps and alternatives to dealing with rats. No one has to live with rats. Keep your home and neighborhood clean and the rats will go elsewhere.

I am an advocate for testing and the issuance of a license before we are allowed to breed.

like how the 'journalist' tries to get you behind the fda by starting with those sob stories. this sounds like thinning the herd of the stupid. the kids eating rat poison today will be living on welfare tomorrow because they're too stupid to work at mcdonalds.

Do you have oak trees? Other types of Nut trees?

Rats eat those.

All this will do is raise the expense of killing rats.

Thank You Nanny State.

That will be money that I won't be spending in local stores, because I will begin to purchase it online when no longer available locally.

If they pull the new poisons, I will have to use lots more of the Warfarin because the rats are resistant to it.

I noticed the article never said if any kids were killed by the poison.

Bathtubs kill hundreds of kids a year, so I guess that will be next.

Won't you feel better knowing bathtubs are outlawed?

Since our Gov't wants to be French, I guess they will want us to smell like them.

What next a dream act for rats, when is the gov. going to get out of our lives if a mother can take care of her kids because she’s too lazy to watch them, why am I getting punished. The answer is take the kid away from the mother she has proven that she can't care of the kids.

The article begins with the statement that kids have easy access to these poisons.

Thanks to the EPA, the rats will soon have easier access to the kids.

The responses in this thread make me fear for the future of our country. I find myself wondering how many of you are against this only because you work for a company that makes rat poison.

Yes, some parents are negligent. Should the CHILDREN be punished with death for that? Even with careful use, rat poison enters the environment in a wide variety of different ways. It destroys wildlife, finds its way into human food and water supplies, and does a whole host of other bad things.

It astounds me that some of you, apparently, think that big business should be allowed to poison the environment that I HAVE TO LIVE IN -- apparently without any regulations or limitations. I suppose you people also oppose any regulation to protect the air that we breathe. Should a huge, multinational corporation REALLY have the right to poison the air that I have to breathe without me being allowed to ask for some sensible regulations?

In many cases, corporations don't even disclose WHAT chemicals they are dumping into the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the soil that grows our vegetables. (This is PROPRIETARY information, you see!) Do you people REALLY think that these megacorporations should be allowed to dump unidentified (and often tested) chemicals into the environment without even having to disclose what they are and without having to provide evidence that the chemicals are safe?

Personally, I've never used rat poison although having it at one's disposal should be allowed. If it's use or storage is negligent, tort law covers consequences. Bad parenting has consequences but keeps "natural selection" at work.

I've used either glue strips or the "Ratzapper" with effective results, a policy implemented when we had young kids. I particularly like the Ratzapper where they crawl into a chamber for the bait (cheese or peanut butter), then get electrocuted. One such rat was so big, it barely fit in the chamber and I had to disassemble the chamber to get him/her out. Glue strips are also nice. I find em wiggling about stuck on the strip, then I wrap 'em with the strip like a blanket for their final voyage down the toilet. The only good rat is a dead one.

To those that say "keep a clean house and you won't have a problem"......that is delusional. If you live in any state that experiences a winter you will eventually have an issue with mice, rats, spiders, etc finding their way into your house when the weather turns. Do you have any open yard......or worse yet any kind of tree that produces nuts, acorns, etc. Any kind of field within a mile of your house? Mice and rats live in these places. When the weather turns cold they will try to find someplace warm that they hope will have a food supply.

If you live in a city it is worse. Personally I am not really that worried about the birds eating the poisoned rats. I am far more worried about what will happen to my own kind from these critters. Traps also are far less effective. A food bait can take out quite a few of them. 1 trap kills one animal. That's great if you only have 1......but if a pregnant female came in you likely have dozens before you ever realize you had the first one.

Lol also to those "clean house" people.....watch what you wish for. Ban the baits and you will have a problem within a few years yourself when the pest populations boom. You need to thank those that use bait because in large part they are the reason you have yet to have a problem. When the populations boom it is highly unlikely you will escape unscathed. You can keep the cleanest house on the planet......but if you have bread in a bag, cereals in boxes, hell any kind of food in a box.....you have all the incentives the rodents need for a nice comfy new home.

here's a little scenario for you. It isn't always the parents fault.

Neighbor sees a rat. She puts out rat poison. Calls an exterminator who puts out heavier duty poison. Neighborhood cats get the poison and haul it into my yard. My dog finds said poison. Fortunately the dog didn't get sick and unfortunately the loose cats didn't either. And really fortunate my kids are old enough not to touch such a thing.

And the rats are still around. So this crap neither kills rats, cats or dogs but is a danger to children.

I agree....lazy parenting is the cause for a LOT of unneccessary injuries and other problems with children....parents need to get off the couch and pay attention to their childrens' environment. The EPA should put warning signs on some of those parents if you ask me!

Hire a new exterminator since that one was dumb enough to put it in a place where the cats can get to it......and not in a harbored place where the rats would traffic and find it.

When we first moved to the country we found out that every fall and winter there was a mouse problem due to the fields around the house. Not a box of cereal went unmolested. I hated the thought of killing anything so I tried the live traps first.....which led to the problem of where to release them......but taking them into town was an ok response for that one. Problem was.......the traps didn't always catch the mice, and once it had one it was no longer part of the solution until I realized it. The next year I swapped all of those out for spring traps. Pretty much the same results. The next year I tried the baits. I put them in the attic, in the cellar on ledges where pretty much only the mice could get to them. It actually got the problem under control. By the time spring rolled around there were only a few mice still running around. The next year it was even more effective. Saw evidence of mice when it started getting cold, but by Christmas it was the end of them. That has been the recurring theme ever since, and I will continue to use the baits. I keep the extra locked up in the garage on a top shelf and guess what......my kids can't get to it. I put the baits in places the kids have no access to.....guess what? My kids have never gotten to it. Nor have my cats, the neighbors cats, frostys dog, etc. Use your heads. It isn't the governments place to regulate stupid.

@MGin post #1.19: This article is about rat poison, NOT any and all environmental issues. Further, there is a difference between the nanny state getting involved in every aspect of our lives as soon as a special interest group becomes vociferous enough and allowing people to be responsible even if that means a few (in this case children) suffer. That is life and boils down to different philosophical views thereof.

Dan, my point was is I have no control over what my neighbors are doing with this product or what exterminator she hired. Out in the country is a bit different than in the city. I have 5 immediate neighbors, all in range of a cat dragging this crap into my yard.

The exterminator put metal boxes with the bait in it in her yard, somehow the cats got it out. Or the rat drug it out and then the cat got it, I don't know. All I know is I found cat chewed squares in my yard.

Now if cat owners were responsible and didn't let their cats roam the neighborhood destroying plants and defecating in my yard this never would have happened. But that is off topic.

Wonder how many are aware that the same chemical in rat poison is in fluoridated drinking water. As to the EPA ban, normally I don't agree with such things but am behind this one. I live in the country and a few yrs ago had rats everywhere. I also have livestock and animals and no matter how careful, the poisons can get out. Also, eating a poisoned rat kills whatever eats it.

My solution? Cats. They couldn't get the adults but they sure got the babies and pretty soon there were no more rats overrunning the place. And yes, the cats are neutered and have their shots. I also have a dog who's death on rats and mice.

It's all fun and games til you lose a family pet...There are safer ways to get rid of pests.

DAAAAHHHH THE GUMMINT!!! Seriously people, I'm calling the whaaambulance. Hatred of regulation is all well and good until its your kid that gets poisoned, or your dog, or you. Then we'll hear that the "incompetent gummint officials aren't doing they're jobs!"

Right wing simpletons love to scream PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY, a fact I find amusing since these folks appear incapable of self reflection. Personal responsiblity is an easy concept to satisfy when you never do anything wrong. What would happen if we took this kneejerk reactionary hatred of regulation to its logical conclusion? I'd have to pay you not to poison me!

The role of government includes protecting the public good and correcting against market failures... and this is an example of that role at work.

These new regulations provide an incentive to find more targeted alternatives and safer delivery methods. Regulation has worked this way in the past and will continue to do so in the future. Don't worry about D-Con, they've got smart people working for them and they'll figure it out.

.

I tend to think this new proposal is going too far. I think the ideas earlier shot down during the Bush years, probably make more sense. Without a doubt, if you are going to use poisons, you need to be very careful where you use them so unintended creatures or children don't get at them.

The clean house theory is nice and it does help, however it's not foolproof. Rats and mice can detect tiny wisps of air escaping from very small cracks and openings of a residence. They are quite skilled at enlarging these little openings enough to gain entry.

Generally rodents try to avoid close contact with people and are quite prolific breeders, such that by the time you discover you have a problem, it's very likely it's a bigger problem than you think. Properly used poisons are effective, but the downside, besides it's dangers, is that you'll end up with dead rodents in a wall or ceiling creating a disgusting stench that will last for many days.

I luckily have only once experienced a rat issue living in an area where they exist quite happily in nature. But I've had to deal with them in outdoor sheds and barns. The thing about rats is they aren't stupid. They are not so easy to capture and unless you find the location that they entered and close it off, they'll be inviting their friends quite rapidly. It doesn't take much of a space for them to get in and they are very good climbers making roof lines and eaves an easy entry point. These are places where you want a little air to escape too, so making it air tight is wishful thinking. They will find a weak spot and exploit it or enlarge it. A loose piece of soffit you can't even see from the ground can become a pathway pretty easily.

Someone mentioned the "RatZapper" which will cost you about $50, but it is a great product. It will take out mice and rats pretty effectively, is child and pet safe, and is about as neat and clean a method as there is. I have found them to be great for eliminating an infestation and if every Spring and Fall , you put in new batteries and fresh bait, they will catch the occasional intruder mouse or rat before they can establish a colony in your house. If you've never heard of it just Google it and you can find them. I'd post their website, but I don't want to advertise. There are a few knock-offs out there, but I believe the original is the best. Keep fresh batteries in them and clean them occasionally and you'll become a believer.

Clearly, there are places and situations that make the poisons a useful tool if properly used. They're not the "easy fix" though, that some may think. You need to use your head if you're going to take this route. The big issue is probably more a question of education. Maybe more prominent warnings, dyes and taste modifications make sense, but eliminating them from the market isn't the answer. People don't read directions. Maybe a big skull and cross bones on the packages, bigger than the brand names, might get people's attention enough that they take the time to read directions.

"Nanny State" Ranters

Perhaps it is very easy to blame the parents and go off on still another rant about over-regulation, nanny states, government intrusion, etc., etc., .... ad nauseum. The issue is protecting children, not finding someone to blame when a child has a health crisis or dies. Poisons are a potentially deadly problem even when parents are responsible, for example (1) your childless neighbors might have rat poison, (2) children "explore" and can get into things that parents truly believed were "safe" (3) pets can get to rat poisons placed in areas away from children and either move the poison to the child's location or the pet poisoned. The list goes on.

The anti-government folks make the same anti-regulation arguments whenever restrictions are proposed. A generation ago they ranted about child-resistant caps on household chemicals, medicines, pesticides and many other products and, guess what! CHILDREN ARE SAFER.

Spoken like someone who not only is not a parent, but who has never been a babysitter and was probably an only child.

You cannot watch any child 24/7. You cannot keep a child safe by wrapping that child in cotton and never letting him/her out of your site.

Whether you know it or not, whether you want to believe it or not, whether you want to understand it or not, kids needs to be able to explore the world around them. That's how they learn, and that's how they learn to respect the dangers. Good parents give their children room to do that.

This isn't about bad parenting, and it's not about the fear of being overrun by rodents. This is about lax laws that have allowed rat point to be in extremely hazardous ways for far too long. That's why the proposed law is about finding ways to use these poisons in as safe a manner as is possible.

The awful thing here is that the pesticide industry thinks it's OK to label as insignificant the admission of 200+ children age 6 and under to intensive care units in just one year because the kids have been able to ingest rat poison when they see it. The new law would prevent them from seeing it.

D Lowrey, that's hardly news. My father, who would have been 84 this year, was a pharmacist, and every time that he dispensed suppositories, he wrote instructions that started with "remove foil". You may feel, for example, that everything should be run up the proverbial flagpole to see who salutes it, but the problem with that idea is that there have always been and will always be people who haven't looked around enough to even the existence of the flagpole, let alone what it is that's be run up said flagpole.

You can't legislate against ignorance, and you sometimes also can't educate to mitigate against it. But when it comes to public safety, you can make it difficult to impossible for that ignorance to do harm. And what price would you put on eand and every life that is saved by such a change in the law?

Look Gov't apologists, bathtubs KILL hundred of kids a year.

According to the article NO KIDS WERE KILLED BY RAT POISON.

So next we will outlaw bathtubs?

Kids die from eating medicine. should we outlaw medicine?

Here's a great compromise: let those who need the nanny state to keep them from putting rat poison on their kids plates be subject to it's regulations.

Let the rest of us opt out.

If the big Gov't protections are so great, you won't have to FORCE people to be ruled by them.

We are tired of an ever growing Gov't that finds new things to regulate every day. If you need that, I have no problem with letting it rule your life.

So now we will have to make our own rat poisons or just use lots of the old, weak ones.

I'm a parent AND we have had problems (right now and in the past) with gophers ripping apart my yard. We use these type of products to rid ourselves of these vermin. Guess what, I have enough sense to put my gopher killing poison out in the garage, in a locked safe, so my children don't have access to the poison. Really, it's not that hard to use a little something called COMMON SENSE, but apparently it's too much to ask for the idiots of this country...especially the lazy, SUE HAPPY, parents of this country...to even consider!

Ask those same ER's how many kids they see come in from poor areas with rat bites, or flea bites? Are you going to hand out free $50 rat traps and hire people to empty them?

oh just let the rats multiply, after all what's another black(bubonic) plague or two?

(this is sarcasm folks)

The domestic house cat that is allowed to roam free outside kills far more birds and reptiles yearly then poisoned rats and mice do. Domestic cats kill for fun, not for food.

It all comes back to personal responsibility! The EPA is made up of "eco-radicals" that intend to control every aspect of our lives without as much as a peep from Congress, we can look forward to a possible "endangered species" ruling for rats as insane radicalism rages through our "progressive" federal government! We must all lobby our congressmen to reign in or totally abolish the EPA as they are now planning on rulings that are unfounded and counterproductive to the economy of our nation! The EPA is a special interest agency that was created by the signature of a president and should be under the tight control and scrutiny of Congress, only Congress is allowed to ultimately make laws that affect our lives and well being!

Legal texan....gee the cancer rates are pretty big in Texas...probably because of geniuses like you....in fact I don't know of one person from Texas that doesn't have cancer and all kinds of illnesses taking out family members.

By the way...

"only Congress is allowed to ultimately make laws that affect our lives and well being!"

A 300 Billion dollar a year legally prescribed drug habit and epidemic levels of chronic and acute illnesses....Congress is doing a bang up job.

Oh I get you....you think it's OK to poison people as long as business is not interrupted....LOSER!

Having worked as a certified pest control operator I can tell you that rat poison is not needed for 100% rodent control. Properly set and monitored traps will kill 100% of rodents in your home or on your property, but it does require a little more of your time. The companies that make these poisons do not care about the deaths of wildlife that is a result of their products. All they care about is money. Poison works, but so do rat traps.

Hey Starkat: Read this. Others may want to as well.

http://foodfreedom.wordpress.com/2010/04/24/s-510-is-hissing-in-the-grass/

Starcat - you know cancer rates are higher than they used to be, but a solid reason is not always known. In the old days people were dying younger from far more common things. It could be they didn't live long enough to have the cancer set in. It could have been there all along, it just didn't get the chance before pneumonia, cholera, typhoid, killed the victim.

This ruling is a true disappointment. Once again we are blaming an inert item instead of expecting responsibility from people. These parents are negligent. This is the same as banning guns because "guns kill." The truth is "people kill" using guns.

The answer is obvious and simple: single-payer pest control. A rodent-free environment should be a basic human right supported by the general welfare clause of the Constitution.

The poisons are no good, yeah maybe the parents should be more aware - but its not always the parent that put out the poison - plus the small fact that you can't watch a kid 24/7. I have 2, trust me....it is no easy task. Like dnimerick said, properly set traps - that are monitored and replaced - are the most effective. Poisons leave you with a dead rat, rotting in your walls....such lovely smell.

To those who say the EPA is a bunch of "eco radicals" - think back....remember...acid rain? Ahhh, yeah that was great. Damn those "eco radicals" for stepping in and curbing pollution....we could of all been enjoying new forms of precipitation! Why stop with acid rain, I want my death snow, skin melting sleet, fiery hell hail!!!

The EPA 's eco-radicals support all these groups....

The Natural Resources Defense Council-Defenders of Wildlife-The Center for Biologic Diversity-World Wildlife Fund-PETA-HSUS-every one of these groups places animal life above human life.

Wayne Pacelle of HSUS said his goal is for everyone to become vegan-Ingrid Newkirk of PETA wants fish to be re-named "Sea Kittens" and went as far as asking Spearfish High (S.D.) to change it's name,the Center for Biologic Diversity puts pictures of endangered species on condom wrappers,and is again trying to get the EPA to ban all lead ammunition-for private,police,and military use.

These are not the actions of normal,sane people.

The head of the EPA-Lisa Jackson- is also an enviro-whacko. Since this admin could not pass cap and tax,she's going to regulate CO2 as a pollutant under the clean air act. While people are paying attention to things like regulation of rat poison,the EPA is trying to enact more back-door environmental policies-supported by the plethora of enviro-whackos in this admin.

How effin' hard is it to keep your kids out of the rat poison? Maybe the problem is that people who can not manage to read the instructions and warnings on a box of rat poison should not reproduce.

There is an easy fix to this "problem":

1. Don't put poisonous chemicals where children can access them! Duh!

2. Use traps baited with non-toxic food to catch rats and then kill them mechanically or by drowning. This protects wildlife from being poisoned.

@ gjdavis60 - loved your post!

My first remembrance of my childhood was that the Skull and Crossbones on anything was bad. We are continually dumbing down things for kids to the point that they are stupid. Don't teach a kid the stove is hot re-engineer the stoves of the world so a kid can't get to it. Don't teach a kid to swim keep him away from water. Big Government "The dumber you are the more you need us".

Actually, starkat, the cancer rates are higher in southern Louisiana than they are in Texas. I wonder why?

Considering that waterways have been used for years to dump every type of waste there is into, could that perhaps be a contributing factor. There is no way tertiary water treatment can get rid of all of it, whether they say id does or not.

Much of the eastern section of Texas is wetlands also. How much drains into them?

Couldn't the fact that the north has used waterways for dumping for over a century be a contributing factor?

legaltexan....you obviously have very little exposure to the EPA staff overall. Working in Env. field for 30 years, the thought that they are eco radicals is fairly funny, and certainly not based on dealings with them.

But, our biases and preceptions are strong....what do others think of Texans...in your opinion ? Do you think it is true. Try concentrating on the issue, look at both sides, then resort to your biases :)

sarkat...I was siding on getting rid of rat poison, until I read your rant.

How come people think of themselves as liberals (don't take it to personal) and they are some of the least tolerant people ??

...best go look at data for state to state comparisons...I did and it does not support your opinion...I used state cancer profiles website.

But honestly...if you look at the incident range of all the states, I don't think any one state is particulary good or bad, but I see the liberal states in the NE as being higher....maybe being liberal is a cause of cancer...just saying...fun with statistics :)

Saying that you don't need poisons to control rats is like saying you don't need a car to go to work. Sure you could walk a few hours and get there...

I'm sure the Pest Control industry will love this. They will still be allowed to use these poisons, but NOW THEY WILL BE ABLE TO CHARGE WAY MORE SINCE THE CONSUMER WON"T BE ABLE TO PUT OUT THE POISON THEMSELVES.

Legal Texanlegal, I am all for personal responsibility. For example, I believe that executives at the companies that make rat poison (and other chemicals) should have the personal responsibility to make sure that they aren't dumping poisonous chemicals into our environment.

Or...like so many conservatives....did you think that ONLY the consumer should show personal responsibility?

lol - the EPA and PETA are not affiliated in anyway....you can't lump them all into one group. The EPA is for the safety of the population - keeping us safe form business and industries that are more concerned with profits then they are pollutants. So are you saying you want to bring back acid rain, cancel emission regulations, and just pour out poisons into the soil? Cause thats what we were doing BEFORE the EPA. Look at China, they don't have an EPA (yet) and their rivers are dying & burning (like ours were), they have acid rain (like we did)....in many ways the EPA has saved us from our own devices.

Also, fewer and fewer people care what the extremist at PETA have to say, they are irrelevant and out of touch. They lost me when their spokesman called fishing one of the most hostile acts humans can do to animals. Fishing? Something man has done since the dawn of time? Really?

The solution to this problem is simple, really. Get a cat. (unless you are unfortunately allergic). Especially one that is semi-wild to feral. They will rid your area/house of vermin. There's no need to resort to chemicals.

Lol I have 2 cats. They look at the mice, look at me, and give me a look that says "you better deal with this situation" and go right back to sleep.

Well, Dan, I'm not sure why that is. Are they old? Do they get to go outside? Every day at least one of my 6 cats brings me a rat, a mouse, or a mole on the doorstep for which I promptly reward them. Their momma cat was wild and taught them how to be good mousers, I guess.

Dan - Did you know that if Cats are not taught to eat mice by being feed mice meat, they will not eat them.

Usually they just like to "hunt" them and play with them.

I have alley cats in my backyard, which is wooded with oaks. They do not control the rodent population.

Please read post #1.25.

nature child - If your cat brings you a rat or mouse everyday, then you do not have control over your rodent population.

I could never get rid of them with traps, but since I began a constant offering or rotated types of rat poison, they are almost completely gone. When I started they ate the baits quickly, now there are so few that it lasts much longer.

What we need is MORE potent rat poison, so we can use less of it.

drimmerick, will they get it?

Ryan in Texas, do not lie.

NatureChild,

Domestic cats allowed to roam free are vermin just like the rats. They are particularly destructive to the wild bird population. Once they become feral, it's even worse. I've seen a friend's cat come into the house through the pet door with a mouse in tow, only to drop it so it quickly scampered under her freezer.

Cats may make a slight dent in rodent populations in the wild, but we'd be waist deep in cats if we wanted to keep up. Rodents can regulate their populations and can reproduce at amazing rates. Coyotes and fox are much more effective in rodent control, but they're not all that desirable either. If you want to keep a cat in your house, feel free, but kindly don't let them run loose. I've heard that the smell of a litter box is actually a better deterent to rodents than the cat itself. It does make sense because wild creatures tend to be very scent oriented. Chemistry is what tells the mouse that a cat is to be avoided, scent is the primary indicator in predator/prey relationships. However, I'm not keeping a litter box in the house either! I'll stick with trapping methods.

Exactly on the devastation by wild cats. The house we bought had ALOT of wildish cats. Most of them were relatively friendly to humans......but my bird feeder seemed like an act of cruelty to the birds after I saw the carnage. I preferred the birds so ALL of those cats went to the shelter. Amazingly my rodent problem in the house was the worst the winter we had the outside cats and my wild birds including the owls thrived after the cats were gone.

And no my cats do not go outside. They are both fixed and strictly indoor cats. Outside cats have an average life expectancy of 5 years. Indoor/outdoor cats slightly better.....but not a huge difference. My cats typically live 12-15 years and tend to live long, fat, happy lives. I'll stick with using my rodent baits safely and responsibly to handle the mouse problems.

IT STATES keep out of reach of children!!!! IT IS POISON!!! How dumb can people be??

Yes it states keep out of the reach of children in small print. It needs to be in huge letters, many people just don’t read the small print.

I just checked my Decon box. Next to the brand name and the words Kills Mice and Rats, KEEP OUT OF REACH OF CHILDREN and Caution are the largest fonts on the box. You can make it as large as you want but you can't fix stupid.

Amen! How many parents do not KNOW that rat poison also kills kids and recalcitrant husbands? It has been the subject of novels, tv shows and movies for many decades.

Yes, buckeyenut-2225921.... it says "Keep out of reach of children."

Do you know WHY the packages say that? Because the government requires them to put such warnings on the package. Before this was required, companies were perfectly free to sell poisonous chemicals without warning the consumer about the potential dangers (and many did just that). Some of you that seem to wet your pants at the mere mention of government regulation seem unaware of the many regulations that protect our safety.

To those that don't realize a product you get to kill something can also kill you or your won kind whether it is spelled out for you in 20 point font on the side of the box......HERE'S YOUR SIGN!!!!

Natural selection......such a wonderful solution to the stupid problem.

Well it kills rats but I guess it's ok to store it next to the frosted flakes?

Easy solution, no need to ban rat poison, mandate restraint cages to keep children in until they are 18 years old or 6ft 2in. tall.

Maybe require a large red letter sign that has an arrow pointing to the poison that says "Poison eat here"

lol, It's still illegal to kill 2 legged rats.

Wish it wasn't.

why do stupid people expect the government to regulate and make laws to cover their own stupidity and then 95% of them are complaining the government is too invasivethese people for some reason need a law to tell them how to wipe their butts just put your rat poison where the rats will get it and keep an eye on your kids it is fairly simple parents have been doing these things for a long long time and the parents that are too lazy or too stupid to monitor and teach their children what is safe and what is not actually it all boils down to STUPID/LAZY PEOPLE SHOULD NOT BREED that would save our lawmakers a lot of headaches we don't need more laws we just need less stupid or lazy people ( the same rules of breeding should also apply to ugly people but that is another post)

I am a parent and had mice in a house once. The only way I could remove them was to use rat poison. And I tried EVERYTHING!!!!

As a RESPONSIBLE parent I made sure that the poison was in a place inaccessible to the children and I NEVER had any issues with using it. (And it worked GREAT!!!)

The EPA should charge the parent's with neglect, child endangerment and attempted involuntary manslaughter. Put the fear of God in them so they take the proper precautions as directed on the instructions when you buy rat poison.

Erick Smith, a good set of traps properly monitored would also have rid your house of mice. I know because as a former pest control operator some of our customers objected to poisons and we set and monitored traps. Remember: A rodent with a broken neck is a dead rodent and it will not poison the food chain.

We should ban the sale of alcohol. Look at all the deaths caused by DUIs. A lot more than rat poisoning.

dnimerick

You make perfect sense. I had mice, and I used the regular snap traps. I put a dab of peanut butter and a sunflower seed on top of the peanut butter for bait. I would just throw away the whole trap and use another one. I got rid of them and I still had the big owl that nested in my big pine tree as well.

I use peanut butter for bait, too. The smell of peanut butter is like the Pied Piper to them.

dnimerick -

I can tell you that Erick Smith is right about that one. Right after Katrina I had mice and rats move into the area and at times they would get into my house. I went the trap method, using peanut butter (rats and mice love peanut butter) as bait. While I caught plenty of the pests, they were still reproducing, creating even more pests. It wasn't until I put out poison that I was able to get rid of them.

Even the neighborhood cats weren't able to keep the population down. Everyone in the neighborhood ended up using the rat poison to get rid of the mice and rats.

There is a good reason why we use rat poison. It works!

Now, the pest control industry will love this new Gov't Powergrab. It will force you to pay a "Professional" $100 to do what you could do yourself for $3.

The test for "Professional" exterminators goes like this:

1. Follow the manufacturer's instructions? Yes/No

If you answered "No", you will have to retake the test.

It's not rocket science to put out rat poison. I've built my own bait stations that are far superior to those plastic things that the EPA says are OK. The rats don't steal my baits and hoard them.

Rats will be just like bedbugs now, thanks to the same Geniuses at the EPA.

Tammy: Katrina is obviously a special circumstance and in such a situation you have to deal with a problem with whatever works. I live on the Texas gulf coast and we get hurricanes also -- two in recent years but they were nothing like Katrina.

I'll just mention this concerning mice and rats. Keep dog food in a sealed container, like a Tupperware tub or something. Don't just leave it in the bag. My girlfriend had two big dogs, and kept the food downstairs. Rats found it and set up shop. I don't like mice, but rats....get me outta there.

The trap idea isn't going to work for people who have canpss or other infrequently used properties or areas. You can't eliminate all risk without creating other problems. Rats and mice carry diseases (hanta virus, flea-borne diseases) - who is going to go aound and empty all these traps in city dumpsters, dumps, elderly peoples basements and attics. You can be clean, but if you live near fields, mice are going to get in at fall.

I don't ever want a child to get into poison. I also don't want to see epidemics of rodent borne diseases.

Think not being able to read have anything to do with this? Failure of school system and not the rat poison companies, failure of parents not watching their kids, the list goes on and on, but true to government let's blame the rat poison. This all suprises who, it just never stops, common sense has left the planet.Stupid is as stupid does.

Our school systems are horrible anymore. And some of what they are teaching is horrible as well. They don't even teach American History anymore. Guess they are brainwashing the kids as early as possible now. Rat poison is dangerous to our childrens health, but so is the school system anymore. Do they even know what the Constitution is and why it is?

http://ezinearticles.com/?American-History---Or-What-Our-Children-Are-Not-Being-Taught&id=617237

rats have already been captured alive and turned loose inside the beltway we the people put them in office, remember?

Obviously they thrive in such an environment and can allegedly grow to the size of a full grown human being. The problems really start when they learn to speak and travel outside the beltway where they then mix with so-called sane people and convince them to send them back to D.C. where they breed new rats which they then place in all manner of govt. bureaucratic positions. One of the ways known to help stop the spread of these vermin is to get rid of the Big Cheese, but this will have to wait until Nov. 2012 or until the Cheese ripens sufficiently so that the public will finally get wind of the stench and demand that it be returned to its native Kenya.

You guys are whackos.. Rats are over populated and should be used to cure cancer and cure other diseases. Theyre mostly disgusting creatures, feeding on trash, and carrying diseases (Such as the black plague that killed between 50 and 75 million people).

Rick Greg and Ttard: and then these same rats go on to poison us and this country and are killing it. Time to purge this country of the progressive rats before they multiply anymore then they already have. I bet people don't even know that International Law is starting to override the Constitution. Poison in any form is meant to kill something.

Joe: If you really think they want to cure cancer, you are the wacko. And as far as feeding on trash??? This administration has been feeding us trash for 2 yrs.

Actually, Joe, it's the fleas that the rats carry that carried bubonic plague, not the rats themselves.

Kind of like the legislation that this Congress has 'carried' and passed on to the taxpayers.

Right.. I am subjected to the COH.. so let me tell you it is really hard not to attack you. Rats are smaller proportionally and die quicker. No.. dont ban rat poison, you can die by a lot of household products. Be a responsible parent and pay attention to your child, especially 1 to 2 yrs old. What are they doing behind the tv?? These things are not "completely out of YOUR control"

.(dont blame parents....some things are completely out of our control)

True, but placing rat poison where it is accessible to children is well within your control. Using your logic, we should ban cars because children get him by them.

These blogs are full of advisement now, what has happened to Newsvine has MSNBC taken over and don’t police the site or what.

Maybe these advertisers are paying customers. It's obvious MSNBC doesn't give a rat's patoot

The button to report advertising is presumably the exclamation mark "!" at the bottom right hand of the post. I click on that and report every advertisement I see as such but when I check the comments to an article even days later, the ads are still there! I think MSNBC is allowing them because they sure as hell don't take them down too damn fast.

Hopefully after Christmas these Bozo's will quit posting shoes and sports jerseys. Does anybody really click on that crap?

Your just wrong! "it is impossible to watch them 24/7.'' small children must be watched 24hrs a day the 100 cases you have seen were not being watched our homes are FULL of poisons to do otherwise is negligent mysticheadlice.

Rat Bite Fever... wasn't that a Ted Nugent song? ;-)

Like squirrels, rats collect food and transport it to another place to eat it later. They don't always eat it where they find it, and this poses another danger to children who come across the bait.

Barn owls are being decimated in Canada when they eat the rats that are staggering about dying from poison bait ingestion. When natural rat predators are eliminated, rat populations explode. The solution to use more poison is the foolish solution.

Rats live in Palm trees from Miami Beach to Beverly Hills, so the post below attempting to make a correlation between the presence of rats and grades in school seems to have been written by someone who never paid attention in school.

Rats don't take the baits away when you use a good bait station.

You can easily make your own bait station that exceeds the plastic ones in effectiveness.

The reason you don't see more rat bite fever is because we are controlling the rat population with rat poison.

Just wait until next year. I expect a rodent population explosion if these EPA nuts get their way.

Show us some statistics on the "deaths and suffering" due to coumadin use. The millions of patients with atrial fibrillation and other conditions would be interested in knowing.

quack, bee was being sarcastic.

the comment was about out of control regulators and idiots that can find a "cause" in anything.

Cats work well too.

only if you have a hungry cat -lived on a farm------watched my cat sleeping on rug in front of warm stove---mouse walked right past her--she opened one eye and went back to sleep----

mimi....you are advocating people that likely don't have the highest standard of living....buy terriers ??

There are plenty of terrier mixes in the shelters.Adopt one or two and they will love you for it.

Plenty. Thousands of dogs a week, are killed by shelters.

I know, I was deleted yesterday for calling someone and idiot, which I shouldn't have done, but still all these ads are getting very annoying.

CdB: You're an idi0t.

what a bunch of idiots

:)

It needs to be de-funded - at least until we can get rid of it. How are they going to run with no money?

In the meantime, bird, helpful-insect, and small mammal populations (including cats, so do not use the 'cats caused it argument') have been decimated in Southern California. Just letting most of you know, since most of you support pesticide use, that this will happen where you are.

Interesting fact: 80% of crop pollination occurs by insects.

How about banning stupid people from procreating. I think that's a great start.

buckeyenut, for me t's not about the stupid parents. It's aout the wildlife. Traps work as well as poison, but you do have to monitor them.

If you are using D Con indoors how is wildlife affected? Like I stated earlier, I don't use the stuff where my outdoor pets (cats and dogs) can get at it. This is a common sense issue not an EPA issue.

(at the expense of humans and wildlife)?

I'm pretty sure the intent of rat poison is to kill wildlife. If you are such the wildlife lover you seem to be, why would you accept the murder of innocent rats? Should bunnies have more rights than rats? Aren't bunnies rodents, too?

buckeye, poisoned rodents usually go utside to die. That's why your house does not smell like rotting rodents.

Atlas, rodents like Norway rats are not native creatures to the Americas. They were brought here as unwelcome passengers on sailing vessels. And my problem with them is that they are the intermediate hosts of several serious human diseases. And to answer your question about bunnies, no they are not rodents. They are classified as lagomorphs.

Because of their teeth, Atlas. Have you compared a rodent's teeth with a rabbit's? They're different.

The use of poisons of every kind in everything, ant, roach, rat etc. does have a cumulative effect on the environment. It also has a cumulative effect on the homeowner. I think that like everything else, moderation and common sense should be the guide. Don't ban but make damn certain that the person using the stuff has an understanding of how dangerous it is. Sadly, don't think that's gonna happen...

The only overwhelming effect I've seen is the overwhelming STUPIDITY of Americans and the total lack of common sense going on here.

Let the plague begin!

Gee, let's see, if we get rid of rat poison, don't we risk an explosion of rats? You know, rats, the little critters who brought you the "Black Death" (okay, granted, that was the Black Rat, not the Norwegian Rat, but same/same)?

Now, I can understand not using bright green blocks of rat poison around two year olds, but an 11 year old? How about a bit of parental responsibility here? If you have very young children, don't use rat poison that looks yummy and if you have older kids, how about explaining to them that it's not really good to eat? How hard is that? Instead, we are going to eliminate ALL rat poison because there are incredibly stupid and irresponsible people out there? Absurd. Nanny state madness!

And there are, after all, products out there (such as "Rati-cate") which are fairly specific in their effect to rats (dogs and cats can eat it without much effect). Maybe only certain products could be sold to people who are obviously idiots, which people we could mark by forcing them to wear a sign announcing their status as brain dead human simulacrums. Now THAT'S a law I could support. In the meantime, just leave me with my rat poison because I've got some of the nasty, little buggers under my hot tub and it's really not convenient to use a shotgun to take 'em out.

Hello everybody, from an older dude who survived to adulthood without child-proof bottle caps and other government ploys

Liar. We all know it's impossible to survive childhood without the following:

Bans on chemicals, childproof caps, bans on lead paint, french fries in a happy meal, free or reduced school lunches, sex education and distribution of free condoms in school, ban on teachers using red pens, labeling requirements (don't place this toaster in the bathtub), compulsory immunizations, etc. We can't survive without government regulation.

I hope you are being sarcastic.

The thing about 'childproof caps' for medicines is that they are also adult-proof if you have arthritis. Some of the newer 'childproof caps' are also adult proof even if you are a woman and do not have as much hand strength as a man.