A dead rat was spotted Downtown Los Gatos on Monday morning, at North Santa Cruz Avenue and Main Street.
It was unclear what killed the animal, however, it lay next to a black animal control box containing poison.
Per the label, the bait station contains desmethyl bromethalin.
This neurotoxin causes the animal that consumes it—whether that’s a pet, a scavenger or a predator eating the initial diner—to suffer a brain injury, according to sciencedirect.com.
Lab trials suggest that secondary poisoning risk is low, wildlifecontrolsupplies.com reports.
However veterinary toxicologists point to anecdotal cases where “relay toxicosis” most likely accounted for illness in animals that consumed poisoned prey, veteriankey.com states.
Meanwhile, the EPA has concluded that “secondary toxicosis” is possible via ingestion of desmethyl bromethalin from prey.
A recent study of wild bald eagles documented neurologic problems that appeared to be correlated to the poison.
The Los Gatan reached out to the Town for comment on its approach to rodent control.
“Vector control is provided by the County of Santa Clara,” a Town spokesperson said Wednesday. “From the photos, it appears to be on private property.”
Workers at Johnny Was, located at 2 N. Santa Cruz Ave., told the newspaper, after the the rat sat there for a while, they removed it with a shovel and placed it in the dumpster.
They decided to take action after seeing a small dog sniffing at it.
Y’all really sent a reporter out to cover this???
Seriously. Sad.
Must be a slow day for news here in Los Ratos.
How about reporting on all the business closures, greedy absentee landlords, LGUSD schools not allowing parent participation as they did pre-covid/lack of transparency + their misappropriation of funds, lack of 3rd party auditing and improper fund tagging, the buyouts of land for developers, relentless 17 bypass traffic, and the diminishing presence of commerce in downtown? Seems the entire committee up and left (not that they were effective), leaving downtown with yodeling singers and a presence akin to a crowded stale bootie on a hot day at Disneyland?
Really…a rat made the news. Come on.