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Use of bait stations by non-target wildlife as a route of exposure of coyotes to rodenticides

This rodenticide pathway has been highlighted in many metropolitan areas, mainly in the form of rodenticide analyses of mammalian carnivores and birds of prey, however very little is known how the rodenticide moves into these large species. In most diet studies of these carnivores, commensal rodents make up a very small proportion of their overall diet (Morey et al 2007; Quinn 1997). This leads to the idea that small mammals or other native species are using these bait stations and consuming the poisons, which are then passed on through predation. My goal is to further understand how native species may use bait boxes and what variables influence this use.

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