Is It Poisoned?

I went to see the new Riverside nest and found it to be solidly built in a London Plane tree. 

After about twenty minutes, the male arrived with a rodent and started calling for his mate.  She didn't arrive, so he went from tree to tree heading north in search of her, and I lost track of him.  (I'm sure he found her, to present his gift.)

Upon seeing the rodent, I couldn't help but think "Is it poisoned?".  The park and the buildings along Riverside Drive are full of rat poison baiting stations.  If this pair breeds again this year, will their second brood be poisoned as well?

There are appropriate uses for rat poison.  But on Riverside Drive, instead of proper sanitation (frequent trash pickups, rodent proof trash cans, etc.), the baiting stations seem to be used excessively.

The public policy issues here are numerous.  I would hope that the deaths of the three Riverside Park Red-tailed Hawk eyasses starts a fresh examination of Parks Department's policies, as well as the policies of the buildings that border the park.  It seems there are lots of areas that should be reviewed such as:

• What type of rodenticides should be used outdoors in and around city parks?
• Should traps rather than poisons be used?
• Should poisons be placed in gardens which are far from playgrounds and eating areas?
• Should contracts with restaurants within the parks require vendors to have their outdoor pesticide and rodenticide usage subject to parks department oversight?
• Do physical improvements need to be made to restaurants in the park to reduce rodents?  The wooden decking at the Boat Basin cafe and the Loeb Boathouse seem to be rodent magnets.
• Is public sanitation appropriate in the parks?  Are the correct types of trash cans being used?  Is trash accessible to rodents in the evening?
• Are poisons being used in and around playgrounds, where children may be exposed to them?

This issue could easily become a polarized situation with one side on the defensive and the other side yelling "Baby Killers".  I hope not.  The best outcome would be for the city to do a full review with both sanitation experts and biologists working to refine rodent control policies to support a more natural New York City.