Second-generation rodenticides move up the food chain — poisoning owls, hawks, foxes, and family pets. Rodenticide-Free Maine works to end unnecessary rodenticide use and make sure Mainers know what's in their neighborhood.
Rodenticide-Free Maine formed when biologists, ecologists, and neighbors kept finding the same thing: bait stations appearing on properties across the state with little to no information given to the people living nearby.
We work alongside Maine Audubon and other conservation partners to reduce the use of second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides (SGARs) in outdoor residential settings, and to push for clear, upfront disclosure whenever bait stations are placed on shared or rented property.
Belfast-based biologist and educator who helped organize the coalition and has testified before the Maine Board of Pesticides Control.
Advocate working directly with Maine residents and tenants to document rodenticide use and push for public disclosure.
Ecologist specializing in ornithology, focused on the impact of rodenticides on birds of prey and other wildlife.
Second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides (SGARs) are potent enough to kill in a single feeding — and they stay in an animal's body long after.
Brodifacoum, bromadiolone, difenacoum, and difethialone are the four SGARs restricted under Maine's new rules. They're more potent than older poisons and can remain in an animal's tissue for months.
Predators and scavengers — owls, hawks, eagles, foxes, coyotes, bobcats, and outdoor pet cats — are exposed when they eat a poisoned rodent, not just when they eat the bait directly.
SGARs bioaccumulate — each animal that eats a contaminated prey item passes a higher dose further up the food chain, well beyond the original target.
LD 356 directed the Board of Pesticides Control to move toward prohibiting rodenticides in outdoor residential settings. Here's the timeline so far.
What this means today: the strongest consumer rodenticides now require a licensed applicator. If you see a bait station on residential property, it should generally have been placed by a certified professional — and residents/tenants should be told it's there.
That's exactly the gap this coalition exists to close. Here's what you can do.
Photograph the station and any visible label. Note the location, date, and whether tenants were notified in advance.
Ask your property manager who placed the station, what active ingredient it contains, and whether the applicator is licensed.
File a tip with the Maine Board of Pesticides Control: 207-287-2731 or pesticides@maine.gov.
Support Maine Audubon's petition and contact the coalition if you want your case included in future testimony.
Help us make sure Mainers hear theirs — before the poison reaches the next animal up the chain.
Contact the Coalition