Free Republic

A U.S. government agency is proposing the deployment of 1.5 tons of rat poison to limit the spread of an invasive rodent problem in the Farallon Islands, located 30 miles off the coast of San Francisco. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) was spearheading the proposal, which it claimed would eradicate tens of thousands of house mice, an invasive species harming the native ecosystem. FWS said the mice have attracted burrowing owls that have fed on the rodent population, insects and storm-petrels, a rare type of bird. The mice also have helped spread an invasive plant species, experts said....