A year ago, one of Glen Canyon’s Great Horned Owls was found dead – poisoned by eating rats that had eaten rat poison.

Now another  dead owl has been found. It’s a barn owl this time. Neighbors want to find out if the cause of death was rodenticide poisons again. They have taken the owl to WildCare – a not-for-profit wildlife rescue organization – for coordination of a necropsy (i.e, an animal autopsy) and toxicology report. They do not have funding to test animals brought in dead by the public and the fees must be paid for by the interested parties. The cost is anticipated to be around $300. Your assistance to help defray the cost would be appreciated.

Edited to Add: The money was raised, the necropsy was performed. Our suspicions proved true. It was rat poison. Read here for details: Rat poison killed the Glen Park owl.

If you’re willing to contribute,  please reference “Barn Owl Patient #1754.”

• Via phone, please contact WildCare’s Stewardship Manager, Jan Armstrong, 415-453-1000, ext. 13,
• Online, wildcarebayarea.org, where there’s a link to donate by credit card
• Send a check directly to WildCare, 76 Albert Park Lane, San Rafael, CA 94901.

There’s an important effort going on to limit the use of the most dangerous rat poisons. You may read about WildCare’s Rodenticide Diagnostics & Advocacy Program on their website. If you have additional questions about rodenticides, you may contact Wildlife Solutions Manager, Kelle Kacmarcik who is coordinating this effort at 415-456-7283, ext. 23.