On Monday I asked: What is this?

Here's a huge clue (answer Friday):

Several statewide, regional and local groups are urging New Jersey to clamp down on the rat poisons that also poison our pets, raptors, and other wildlife. We are waiting to hear back from the state DEP.

The head of the N.J. Conservation Foundation, a group that helped save the Celery Farm, has posted an excellent column about the problem.

Here's a sampling:

By Jay Watson, Co-Executive Director, New Jersey Conservation Foundation

“To keep every cog and wheel is the first precaution of intelligent tinkering,” said Aldo Leopold, famed American conservationist-philosopher, referred to as “the father of wildlife ecology.”

In plain terms, Leopold was telling us that the more we tinker with the natural world – its wild ecosystems and checks and balances – the more harm we can cause.

We are bearing witness to this truth every day, as wildlife is being poisoned when homeowners, businesses, or exterminators choose to use anticoagulant rodenticides, also known as rat poisons, to control rodents.

Despite the claims of the pest control industry, there is no such thing as “safe” rat poison. When a hawk or bobcat eats a poisoned rat, they also become very ill, oftentimes dying of secondary poisoning.

Studies have found rat poisons in wildlife including foxes, bobcats, coyotes, and nearly every species of hawk and owl. Rat poison also kills dogs and cats as well as scavengers like raccoons, skunks, and opossums. In a 2021 study, rat poison was found in over 80 percent of bald eagles.

You can read the entire column here:

https://www.njconservation.org/rat-poison-regulations/

Today's mystery: What is this?

Photographed in Allendale.

My backyard chickadees let me know when their birdfeeders are empty. Photo Credit: Alan Pomerantz.

My latest column for The Record ponders the question: Can some wild birds recognize individual humans by our voices? Here goes:

While I was visiting Annapolis this weekend, I saw the above sign in front of the Vida Taco Bar. Instead of inquiring within, I emailed the establishment later inquire to what a bird shot is.

Apparently, there are several meanings, including a type of shotgun ammo, but do you know what type of bird shot this is?

(No birds are harmed, as far as I know.)