January 9, 2026
Nature Done Wright
Incorporating the Celery Farm and Screech Owl Companion blogs
Fighting Rat Poison Statewide
Eileen Murphy of NJ Audubon and I recently wrote an Op-Ed article for the excellent NJ Spotlight news website about combating rat poisons that kill our raptors, other wildlife and pets.
It’s a problem across New Jersey (and beyond) — and as our article mentions, Allendale gets a tip of the hat for the Borough Council’s recent resolution to stop using the worst rat poisons on borough property and to urge businesses and residents to stop using these poisons as well.
You can read the Op-Ed here.
The Great Horned Owl pictured in the article (also pictured above) died from secondary rat poisoning in Allendale the day after I photographed it last winter.
That owl’s death helped start efforts to raise awareness. With the help of students from Northern Highlands Regional High School and Allendale residents, we highlighted the number of rat-poison bat stations in Allendale.
We hope to bring that effort statewide.
1 comment
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Thanks for the update, and although it’s heart breaking to read, I feel that raising awareness of the problem is needed to get a statewide ban against using poison bait stations.





1 comment
Jim Strauch
Thanks for the update, and although it’s heart breaking to read, I feel that raising awareness of the problem is needed to get a statewide ban against using poison bait stations.