Ottawa is temporarily allowing the return of the rodent poison strychnine in Alberta and Saskatchewan as those provinces grapple with gopher infestations.
A statement from the federal ministers of health and agriculture says allowing its use will help farmers address damage caused by Richardson’s ground squirrels.
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The federal government banned strychnine in 2024 as it posed risks to other wildlife that consume poisoned carcasses.
The Prairie provinces have recently pushed Health Canada to reconsider, arguing gophers are threatening crops and causing millions of dollars’ worth of damage.
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Health Canada initially rejected the proposal, but reversed course Monday after the provinces submitted a revised emergency-use request that included measures to lower environmental risks.
The ministers say the federal authorization will be in place until November 2027.
Richardson ground squirrels and pocket gophers are completely different animals. Gophers dig holes constantly and cause field damage. Ground squirrels use those tunnels. Allowing strychnine is absolutely appalling. It’s going to kill so many more birds and animals such as owls ravens cries and coyotes. This is not the solution
I am a SK farmer. I wont be using it. We do have a gopher problem and by all accounts it will be worse than ever.
Thanks to the feds for banning the cheap and effective semi auto .22s as well.
It wont matter much as with skyrocketing fuel and fertilizer prices and record low commodity prices its not worth putting a crop in the ground anyway.
Cidiots will only start caring once they cant eat. Things get really crazy really fast when people havent eaten in a few days.
I remember using gopher poison when I was about 10 years old. My Dad telling me the safety rules, wearing gloves, never having skin contact with the poison. Always place the poison grain down the gopher holes, not close to the surface where other animals could access it. I remember seeing coyotes come across dead gophers, sniff them and walk away. The only bird dumb enough to try to eat a dead gopher was a magpie. It ate a bit, mustn’t like the taste and flew off.
Point is I wonder if these government workers that want to ban gopher poison has ever been out of the office and seen farmers actually poison gophers.
Terry-Ann Escobar,
It’s sad that the government and farmers don’t care. :(
Linda Turner,
I agree with what you wrote.
So fucked up. So many other animals will die.
This is not a health issue. Health Canada should not be involved at all. No wonder the Federal staff has expanded so much. Each department wants to build bigger kingdoms.
There would not be a need for poisons, if Canada would allow varmint rifles. So to keep 1 branch of the federal government happy, we poison the environment. – Ground squirrels reproduce quickly, so this cannot be temporary, the problem will continue.
very bad thing to do. farmers only look at $$ don’t care about living things. sad day.