The Ecological Origins and Consequences of the Rodent Bait Station

From WWII Britain to Contemporary California

Bibliographic Data

ID4814175
AuthorsC M Kelty (0000-0003-0253-5554, Institute for Society and Genetics, University of California, Los Angeles, California, USA, corresponding author)
Year2023
Volume42
Issue4
Pages397-414
Publication date2023-05-19
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueMedical Anthropology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0145-9740 • E-ISSN: 1545-5882
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/01459740.2023.2213390
PMID37522961
OpenAlexW4385407089
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited30

This article describes the origin of the rodent bait station, a globally distributed system for controlling rats, currently creating a secondary ecological crisis affecting wildlife who eat rats that have eaten the poison. I argue that this system is tied to settler colonial places like California and that banning poison will not address the crisis. It details the history of this box as a scientific ecological solution to rat control, created by Charles Elton and his research group during WWII. I pair this account with an account of contemporary science into the ecological crisis of rodenticides

Ancient history · Archaeology · Biology · Colonialism · Ecological crisis · Environmental ethics · Ethnology · First world war · Geography · Rodent · Sociology · Wildlife · World War II · Animal Ecology and Behavior Studies · Ecology · History · Species Distribution and Climate Change · Yersinia bacterium, plague, ectoparasites research

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