Illegal pot farms in California is poisoning rare and endangered owls in the area!
The Northern spotted owl (Strix occidentalis caurina) is one of the three subspecies of spotted owls, and there are probably only a few thousand pairs left in the wild. Most owls are found in Oregon, but there are also around 500 owl pairs in Northern California. It is listed as threatened by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, but there are luckily conservation efforts in place to try to take care of this rare subspecies of spotted owl.
![](https://steemitimages.com/640x0/https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a0/NorthernSpottedOwlOregonZoo.jpg)
A northern spotted owl (in a zoo). Image by Wikimedia Commons user Cacophony, posted with the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.
A newly published article in the journal Avian Conservation & Ecology captured owls in Northern California to check if they were contaminated with any poisons or not, and the results showed that 70 % of the Northern spotted owls were poisoned by anticoagulant rodenticides, a poison used to kill rats on farms. This rodenticide is documented to be stressful for owls and birds in general, and have even been documented to kill owls in the past.
What happens when the owls eat anticoagulant rodenticides is that they are unable to recycle the vitamin K in their bodies which could be fatal to all organisms that digest it.
During the experiment the researchers also tested the Barrel owl (Strix varia) for the same poisons, and found that 40 % of these were also contaminated by at least one anticoagulant rodenticide. This species is owl is however not threatened, but it was used since it competes with the Northern barrel owl for habitat and food, so the researchers wanted to collect samples from the species as well to get er better overview of the total number of affected owls. Since these owls are very much alike it is safe to assume that 40 % of both owl populations would be affected by the rodenticide, and the 70 % number they for for the Northern spotted owls might be too high because of a low sample size.
![](https://steemitimages.com/640x0/https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ef/Barred_owl.jpg)
A barred owl. Image by D. Gordon E. Robertson, posted with the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.
The culprit is most likely marijuana growers
The area close to where the owls were sampled is known to be used by illegal marijuana growers, and it is well-known that this has many negative effects on the wildlife in the surrounding area. If you are growing illegal drugs you are obviously not going to care about the laws that apply to using pesticides in the area, which could very well prove to be fatal for the threatened Northern spotted owl.
The researchers behind the study have previously also researched the effects these marijuana farms have on the local wildlife, and told the LA times that the farmers would often leave food spiked with this rat poison on the borders of the farm in order to prevent herbivores from entering the farmlands.
Why the Northern spotted owl is threatened
The Northern spotted owl is very picky with its habitat, and prefers to live in or very close to old-growth forest. This type of forest is also called virgin forest, and it is very rare these days. The thing about this type of forest is that it must never have been logged, so it's not that strange that it has become very rare. The unique thing about the old-growth forest is that there is a mix between old, dead and young trees, which is rarely seen in forests that have been recently logged, and a forest might use as much as a thousand years to become old-growth forest after having been logged once.
![](https://steemitimages.com/640x0/https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bc/Biogradska_suma.jpg)
An old growth forest. Notice dead trees alongside both young and old trees; a good indicator of old-growth forest. Image by Snežana Trifunović, posted with the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.
Old-growth forests have their own unique ecology, and we find many species here that would not be found anywhere else, especially fungi, lichens, mosses and insects, which in turn attracts some rare birds and mammals. Sadly most old-growth forest is already gone, but most countries have some protected old-growth forest left where you can find a lot of cool species.
Thanks for reading
Thanks for reading about how the rare Northern spotted owl gets poisoned by the illegal pot farmers in California. I hope you enjoyed to learn about this topic despite the fact that it's bad news. Sources for the different claims are posted in the text, so make sure to click on any of these to get more information!
Yet another negative side effect of banning that plant. If I am not mistaken an anticoagulant poison is one that prevents the clotting of wounds. A horrible way to go I am sure.
This is correct. However, it is also possible to die from the poison itself; you do not need to get a wound to die from it.
Thanks for your comment, @tony10!
Are there any efforts to check the Illegal pot farming by local authorities...
After reading your post I googled for old growth forest in my contry and look what are the results
"Juniper Forests, Ziarat"
May be I can make a trip there in summer as it is only 300 miles away.
I would certainly hope so! The US tend to invest a lot of resources in stopping the drug industry, so I'm sure these are being actively looked for by both the police and the DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration).
You should do that! I visited an old-growth forest here in Norway just last year (called Trillemarka Naturreservat), and it was a very nice trip. I saw many species that I had never seen before!
You always post about such interesting topics!
It's quite sad that the owl is being affected by these farmers, they probably don't even think about what consequences their actions have.
I feel that's the case a lot of the time, people don't think through the consequences of their actions, especially with regard to nature.
Thank you, @calathea!
In my opinion it should be pretty obvious that using poison designed for animals can have negative effects for the nearby wildlife. It's not exactly that difficult to imagine that the poisoned rats gets eaten by owls and other predators. I don't think it's good enough for them to pretend that they are ignorant; it seems more likely that they just don't care.
However, you make a good point, I'm just not sure I agree fully with it. But you're completely right that this happens a lot. Like when someone throws away a cigarette stump; no one expects them to end up in the ocean where the leftover nicotine can affect the hormones of fish, and the filter get stuck inside the guts.
I think they may think in terms of short term gain, killing the rodents that they see as a pest for their crops. I don't think they stop to think about what effects this poison has on the wider ecosystem.
Ah, I see what you mean.
Ironically they will most likely end up with a lot more rats if it ends up killing all the animals in the area that prey on rats.
Indeed a bad news that we are losing rare species at the cost of our enjoyment. Marijuana is an illegal drug. it comes from the hemp plant Cannabis sativa. It has an active ingredient called THC that makes you feel high. THC and other compounds in marijuana can also affect the way your body works. it affects your nervous system and immune system, According to report more than 1 in 3 people in America have tried marijuana at one point in their lives. Due to its high demand in USA it is cultivating in bulk quantity. @valth you are right if they don't care people than why they care animal health.Indeed a cruel act, but it all happens in the World.Use of pesticides for cultivating plant is not only bad for animal health but it's also endanger human life. Good news that serious efforts have been made for the conservation of rare species.
Yes, this is true. This is a huge issue that needs to be solved in some manner, because pesticides ruin so many lives around the world. The worst part is that the poorest people are most affected by this, because they don't really have that much of a choice at times.
Thanks for the comment, @kamchore!
Infacts Thanks to you for improving my Biology. I was not good in Biology during my school days:(
yes the poor grind on poverty grinder all the time. But believe me in this case the poor are not as much victim as unaware people . Let me explain. Alright poor don't have budget to costly organic food, but due to their struggling and hardworking life they have much better immune system than middle class people who don't do a lot of hardwork. In fact mostly are couch potato. I often see in daily routine the children who play in mud and garbage have less tendency to get ill than children who brought up with utmost care. It's only because their body have more resistance and they have better immune system. so in my thinking it will affect to middle class & unaware people more than poor. what's your opinion @valth
This is so sad. Owls are innocent and very useful members of our ecosystem. Their functions are numerous and as an ecology student. I am well aware of this but I can't start listing them here. The government and people of California need to do something about this
Yeah, that's true.
I think they are doing their best. It's not like they want to have illegal pot farms in the first place.
Wild animals must be protected by all means. Endangering them is in itself a danger to human existence.
Yeah, I see what you mean. If we end up making most animals extinct, humans are for sure going to share the same fate once the consequences of the altered ecosystems catch up.
I love owls! Thanks for photos and the post.
Me too! You're welcome :)
Isn't marijuana legal?
Well, it became legal in California on January 1st, so that's barely two weeks ago. These illegal farms however have been in business for a long time, and will probably keep that way even if it's legal in that state (since there is most often a black market for the drugs still.
You have made some good points there. I checked on the net for more info about the issue and found most people will go along with your views.
I learn something new and challenging on sites I stumbleupon every day. It will always be interesting to read articles from other writers.
I blog frequently and I really appreciate your content. Your article has truly peaked my interest.
I am going to book mark your blog and keep checking for new information about once per week. Thankx alot @valth
@originalworks