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Mouse and Rat Poisons: Anticoagulant Rodenticides
Are they seeking warmth? Or food? Experts disagree. But mice and rats do try to come indoors when fall temperatures arrive.
Rodents can carry disease, cause structural problems by chewing on wires and walls, and even bite. Some people use rodenticides when rodents have overcome all efforts to keep them outdoors, especially if traps are ineffective or not feasible.
Rodenticides are products designed to kill mice and rats. Most rodenticides intended for use at home are long-acting anticoagulants, chemicals which prevent blood from clotting. Common active ingredients include brodifacoum and bromadiolone. Usually, rodents have to eat these products over a period of several days before they die.
Children or pets who swallow a small amount of an anticoagulant rodenticide will probably be all right without treatment. BUT, if they swallow small amounts regularly, or swallow a large amount all at once, they could be at risk of dangerous bleeding. That makes it important that rodenticides be placed where children and pets can't reach them or even see them.
The danger could be much greater if a child swallows an old product that has been taken off the market. Also, some products used by pest control companies, especially for commercial or farm use, might be even stronger than those sold for home use.
To PREVENT rodenticide poisoning:
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Make the area outside of your home unfriendly to rodents: keep trash covered, continued... |
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 Fall Berries: They Only LOOK Good Enough to Eat!
To children, purple berries look like grapes. Red berries look like good things to eat, too. The berries shown here, and more besides, are on the "menu" now in local gardens and parks.
All of these berries can cause poisoning if eaten. Pokeberries can cause bloody vomiting and diarrhea. Virginia creeper and Jack-in-the-pulpit, though unrelated, can both cause kidney problems. And lily of the valley berries can cause a slow, irregular heart rate.
It's not realistic to dig up your landscape or garden. And, children will grow out of the stage where berries look good enough to eat - or at least, they will learn to ask first. Until then...
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Sublime, Melodramatic, Tongue-in-Cheek, or Just Plain Silly? A Pop Quiz about Poisons in Opera
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 Siphoning Gasoline
The Poison Center can always tell when lawn-mowing season is over. How? By the number of people who siphon gasoline out of their lawn mowers - and don't stop in time.
People who think they can safely siphon gasoline often find out otherwise. It is easy to cough or choke if gasoline enters your mouth. When that happens, gas can go down the "wrong way" - into your lungs.
When gasoline enters your lungs, a few things happen. The gasoline itself is an irritant and can cause pneumonia. It can also block oxygen from being absorbed into the small blood vessels that carry it from the lungs to every other body organ. When this happens, you can see changes on x-ray in less than two hours.
Symptoms can be severe and early treatment can be life-saving. If someone swallows gasoline, call the Poison Center right away at 1-800-222-1222. The experts there will figure out if treatment is needed and provide immediate advice. | |
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