1080 POISON

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume 99, Issue 5, 16 November 1959, Page 457

1080 POISON

Precautions

recommended on properties where the poison is used against animal pests

By the Departments of Agriculture and Health and the Rabbit Destruction Council

© 1080 poison in sufficient quantity will kill man, animals, and birds. # In the hands of trained men it does not present undue hazards to users.

nr HERE are no particular dangers to occupiers of properties where the poison is used, but, as with all poisons, young children should in no circumstances be allowed access to bait materials poisoned with it.

NO ANTIDOTE; BUT PROMOTE VOMITING

There is no effective antidote for 1080 poisoning when symptoms have appeared, but if any is

swallowed by man or child, vomiting should be promoted by a tablespoon of salt or a eas p o n of

mustard in a tumbler of warm water. The salt treatment can be repeated four or five times till vomiting occurs. The patient should be kept quiet and immediate medical advice obtained.

NO ACCUMULATION IN BONES OR MEAT

Though there is some experimental evidence that repeated small doses of 1080 can in some circumstances have serious or

fatal effects on sheep, there is nothing to suggest that such

IN RUNNING WATER rl n v-i r-i'z'-xv* 4-z-» w< rt ■»-» x-x-m

doses cause any accumulation of the poison in the bones or meat of animals. The poison is not stored in the bones of 1080-poisoned animals and if it is laid on pasture, it cannot render the plants themselves poisonous to grazing animals.

In the amounts used in rabbit and opossum eradication it is most unlikely to cause any poisoning

danger to man or animal if baits fall in running water, but it would always be prudent not to use a water supply contaminated with large amounts of poisoned bait whatever the poison used.

AVOID INHALING DUST

No poisonous fumes or vapour are given off from 1080poisoned baits or even from

1080 powder, but in handling the powdered poison precautions must be taken to avoid inhaling any dust given off from it. There are no dangers in handling the carcasses of 1080-poisoned animals, since the possibility of contaminating the hands with sufficient poison to be dangerous is extremely remote.

RISKS TO DOGS

Any poison on the hands is removed completely by washing them in water, preferably hot.

Dogs are killed by eating the flesh of larger animals killed by large doses of 1080 and by eating the carcass, including

the gut contents, of any 1080-poisoned rabbit.

The carcass of a sheep which had been missed during the muster before poisoning and killed by freshly laid bait would be more likely to kill a dog than that of a sheep dying after being returned to poisoned country. In the second case the intake of 1080 by the sheep would probably be lower, with less likelihood of the meat being toxic. Clean mustering before poisoning is essential, not only to save unnecessary losses of sheep but to reduce the risk to dogs. The poison does not break down in the carcasses of dead animals and hence dogs must be prevented from eating any 1080-poisoned animals, even when the carcasses are very decomposed.

In cold winter weather the carcasses of rabbits can remain dangerous to dogs for months. A dog eating a poisoned rabbit may not show symptoms of poisoning for up to about 18 hours. Unless dogs can be trained not to eat dead rabbits it seems logical, for their protection, for owners to feed them adequately after any 1080 poisoning operations on their own or neighbouring properties.

Muzzling of valuable dogs when 1080-poisoned rabbit carcasses are available to them should be considered.

It is suspected that some farm dogs have been poisoned by eating the dried-up paunch contents of dead rabbits which have been partially eaten by hawks, which do not eat the paunch contents, but tip them out of the carcasses.

Some normally quiet dogs which have been poisoned experimentally with 1080 have become very vicious shortly before death, and small children especially

should be kept away from chained dogs showing fits after 1080 poisoning operations.

BAITS EATEN BY SHEEP AND CATTLE

Rabbit baits in sufficient quantity

will poison sheep and cattle, and after 1080 rabbit poisoning there

can be no guarantee that sheep will be safe until there has been substantial rain, certainly more than an inch, or the baits have rotted away.

In dry conditions carrot baits dry up, retain their poison, and are eaten by sheep when rain falls, causing the carrot to swell and become palatable.

With the level of 1080 used in carrot for rabbit

poisoning, about 2 oz of the freshly prepared carrot will kill a sheep weighing 100 lb; after about an inch of rain, 8 to 20 oz of the swollen carrot would have to be eaten before death occurred.

The danger to sheep is greater when large amounts of carrot are lying about.

TESTING SAFETY OF COUNTRY

The advice of rabbit board supervisors about putting sheep back on poisoned country must be followed. Where there is some doubt a partial test of the safety

of country for sheep could be made by putting back a few sheep for a week or so before the main flock. The point about carrot drying up and then becoming, palatable after rain should be remembered. If rain should fall while the test sheep were on and no deaths followed in about two or three days, it could be taken that the country was safe. If no rain fell during the test period, the test would not be so reliable.

During poisoning operations care should be taken that grazing animals do not gain access to places where carrot is being poisoned and that poisoned baits are not accidentally spilt from vehicles or on landing strips where planes are loaded.

SAFETY PERIOD FOR SLAUGHTER

The meat of sheep grazing on country

recently poisoned for rabbits or opossums is liable to contain small but harmless amounts of poison. From

the point of view of public health, no foodstuffs containing even small amounts of poison should be eaten by man, and hence animals should not be slaughtered for meat for at least two weeks after animals have been returned to poisoned country.

1080 is the best poison weapon against the rabbit.

The Rabbit Destruction Council and the Departments of Agriculture and Health appreciate the extremely poisonous nature of 1080. As the result of experiments and experience it was found possible in 1958 to reduce the level of the poison in rabbit baits and thus, incidentally, further reduce any possible danger to humans.

Even before this lowering of the level of poison there had been no cases of 1080 poisoning in humans in New Zealand or Australia.

If this good record is to be maintained, there must be no relaxing of precautions in handling the poison, particularly by the men who carry out the actual poisoning operations.

Control of Crickets in Pasture

FROM October onward cricket eggs which were laid last season begin hatching and the young, which are very similar to but smaller than the adult of the species, begin feeding as soon as they emerge. Normally these small crickets do not cause appreciable damage, especially during spring when pasture growth is rapid. As the season progresses the crickets increase in size as does also their appetite. Frequent rains will check a build up in numbers of crickets and at the same time keep pastures thriving so

that the crickets do not become a problem. In dry weather the pest will thrive and pastures weaken so that severe damage may result. Farmers are therefore urged to keep check on the position from now on and if necessary use insecticides to control the pest. However, treatment should be delayed as much as possible to catch as many of the later hatched crickets as possible, but should not be so late that pasture suffers or earlier hatched crickets are allowed to mature and lay eggs.

Normally insecticide should be applied in late January or February, depending on the season.

Dieldrin is the most effective

material available and should preferably be applied at 6 oz of pure chemical per acre as a dust in fertiliser or lime, but pastures should not be grazed thereafter until rain falls. Alternatively baits consisting of 24 lb of bran, 4 lb of molasses, and 1/10 lb of 100 per cent DDT per acre may be prepared and broadcast over affected areas.

—C. M. BUCK,

Farm Advisory Officer, Department of Agriculture, Warkworth