Each year, the Town of Kiawah Island biologists test the town's wildlife for second-generation anticoagulant rodenticide (SGA) exposure. Raccoons and opossums, in particular, are used as “sentinel” species to monitor the prevalence of SGAs in the Kiawah environment.
Exposure rates to SGAs continued on a downward trend for several years, due primarily to the success of the Bobcat Guardian Program. However, the Town says results received last week, shown on the graph below, indicate a substantial increase in SGA exposure rates in raccoons and opossums.
To learn more about the Town’s study results, how the Town is responding to these results, and how you can help, click here.