The humble hedgehog is the gardener’s best friend. They will chew up dozens of snails and slugs as they go about their wanderings of a night. They make the use of poisonous slug pellets unnecessary, which is a good thing, as slug pellets are very toxic things and will poison not only the slugs in your garden, but also hedgehogs and birds which might eat the slugs. Slug pellets could also possibly affect the person distributing the poison, and eventually, the slug poison will reach waterways, contributing to the chemical hazards of our environment.
In my experience, commercial slug pellets are hazardous to the health: even a neighbour’s slug poison will affect sensitive people, as the vapours, which are emitted for weeks after laying on the ground, and which are deleterious to the immune system, will drift on the air. These fumes have a very corrosive action on the nervous system and will give you candida type illnesses.
I recently saw an article in a local Dunedin newspaper which was promoting the trapping of hedgehogs, with bait and traps being provided. “Do your bit for the community – put a trap down to help eradicate hedgehogs’ was the message.
My guess is that something like 1080, or brodifacoum, is in the bait.
Since reading that article about a month ago, which encouraged householders to get on board with the campaign to eradicate hedgehogs, a friend in Sawyer’s Bay, Port Chalmers, has found several dead hedgehogs in her garden. This is the first time since they moved there, 6-7 years ago, that she has found dead hedgehogs in her garden. My friend’s garden is an organic paradise, friend to hedgehogs and birds alike.
Where does this desire to kill harmless creatures come from? New Zealand does have a culture of violence and abuse which ranges down the whole social system, and over-reaches onto environment issues. The old pioneering ‘die-hard’ attitude makes New Zealand an easy target for pesticide companies to manipulate us as a nation into boosting their sales. Much advertising money is spent ensuring that government agencies, and others such as Forest and Bird Society, swallow the bait and support pest eradication campaigns engineered by these big profiteers, the chemical giants. For years now, Forest and Bird Society have supported the 1080 and brodifacoum poisoning of parks and forests nationwide, something which I find very bewildering, since these chemicals are KNOWN to kill the very birds they endeavour to protect. The poison gets into our waterways, which is another problem, as then fish get contaminated too.
A couple of years ago, after 1080 warnings came that parks and reserves were to be ‘treated’ with 1080 in my area, I found within the week, one dead seagull and one dead duck on the rugby field near the reserve, and a wood pigeon dead just up and road, 100 yards away. When I walked up Te Aroha mountain 4-5 years ago, there was not one bird to be seen or heard. We were warned at the bottom of the walk that 1080 had been distributed. All was still and silent.
And now, these chemical giants, through the support of government agencies, are brain-washing the public into believing that they are helping their communities by laying poison, supplied by the authorities, to kill pests, even hedgehogs, in their own gardens.
One rationale given by NZ environment ‘authorities’ is that hedgehogs eat kiwi eggs, which is why we should kill all hedgehogs, they say. But seriously, where can you find a kiwi egg around cities and towns, or even in the country? I have never ever seen a kiwi in the bush. Massey University say that dogs are the worst threat to kiwi. But do we then eradicate all dogs because of the kiwi cause? How ridiculous is that?
Sure, hedgehogs could be baited near sanctuaries such as the Orokanui Reserve in Dunedin, which would protect any kiwi living there. They do that anyway, with special pest-proof fences and the like. But it is surely not necessary to kill all hedgehogs all over New Zealand?
Now that glyphosate products such as RoundUp are on the way out, having been proven to be cancer-causing, the chemical giants are looking to hook the public into a new devious scheme. After all, they have been advertising glyphosate-RoundUp for 30 years or more as a ‘biodegradable’ product, something which was proven to be a lie. In a court case 2-3 years ago, Monsanto was ordered to remove the biodegradable claim from all their packaging and marketing.
Meanwhile, all the farmers I know argued with me, convinced that RoundUp was perfectly safe, because they believed Monsanto’s claim. I always knew this herbicide was very toxic, as it affected me badly when I came into contact with it, or smelt it after it had been sprayed. Candida sickness was always the result, with dizziness, poor memory, bone pains, blurry vision, and other symptoms. So – 30 years ago, I was arguing the point to no avail about glyphosate-RoundUp being hazardous to the health.
And yet, even now, despite many countries having banned glyphosate, in New Zealand we STILL have to put up with RoundUp or similar herbicides being widely sprayed on agriculture land, on almost all roadsides, all over the railway system, and around parks and reserves.
Bees have been very scarce this year. On an average day, I might see one or two bees in my garden. There was just one day when I counted around 30 bees. But then, they disappeared. Herbicides such as glyphosate, still being used in NZ, is a bee-killer as well as a weedkiller. ( Microwaves from cell-phone towers and other transmitters are also hazardous to bees and all living creatures – we should beware of smart meters on electricity boxes, cell-phone transmitters, and certainly, the new 5G roll-out coming soon)
I witnessed, about 8 weeks ago, a group of young men in a marshy area just south of Palmerston, spraying what was probably RoundUp all over the marsh, which is connected to the estuary. No poison, glyphosate-RoundUp, or anything else, should ever be put near waterways, and certainly not actually IN them.
It is surely time to ban all toxic herbicides, pesticides and insecticides. We are a now a dying planet and should be respecting and caring for all forms of life.
Tag: 1080 pesticide
Dog Dies From Lymphoma Six Months After Eating RoundUp Spray
The young dog of a friend of the family’s has recently died of lymphoma. The dog was not old – around six years.
Six months ago, the man of the house sprayed RoundUp on their grass verges and roundabout the garden. The dog went over and ate some of the grass which had been sprayed. It became sick – not just regurgitating the grass, which cats and dogs like to do to clean out their stomachs, but was clearly feeling unwell. He remained sick and was not his usual self for many days. So they took him to the vet, who said there was nothing wrong with a dog eating grass sprayed with RoundUp, and that he would be OK. But he was not OK.
Six months later, the wee dog was dead from lymphoma cancer.
I wrote a post a few years ago about the dangers of pets and children playing or wandering through sprayed areas of grass. Pet owners need to be careful, I said, not to take their dogs walking through parks which have been sprayed. Nor should they be let loose to run through poisoned areas.
Cats are even more at risk, as they roam far and wide at night, and are likely to be exposed to toxic herbicides or weedkillers, and pesticides, on their travels. One assumes that awareness is growing regarding herbicides and pesticides affecting the health of humans, pets and planet. But the use of herbicides and pesticides seems to be increasing to that of former years.
RoundUp glyphosate, and pesticides such as 1080 and brodifacoum, are being used more than ever all over the country, to the detriment of our health, and especially to the health of children. They will surely be reducing longevity of children, pets and adults who become exposed to these poisons on a regular basis.
Food Glyphosate Levels From RoundUp Increased 500 Times Since 1994
Environment and Health
RoundUp, which contains glyphosate, is not biodegradable. Interesting, I think, that Monsanto had to be taken to court a couple of years ago, to get them to remove their false claim of ‘biodegradable’ from the packaging of their RoundUp weedkiller.
RoundUp weedkiller, and Monsanto’s related RoundUp Ready seeds and plants, are a multi-billion dollar industry. For over 20 years, they have marketed their RoundUp weedkiller as ‘biodegradable’, happily duping farmers, agriculturalists, city councils, governments, and the general public about the safety of RoundUp, which contains glyphosate, an ingredient which WHO, World Health Organization, last year declared is a ‘probable cause of cancer’.
Some organic farmers use RoundUp, which misleads people into thinking RoundUp must be OK. But RoundUp and glyphosate are not safe, and should never be used in the organic industry, if at all. How can this be, that organic producers can use glyphosate weedkiller? Well – Monsanto has cleverly convinced governments everywhere that a small amount of glyphosate is acceptable, which is why some organic farmers can call their stuff organic: as long as they make sure that they are within the so-called ‘safe’ range, then they can call their stuff organic, when in fact it is not at all.
I heard the tail end of a documentary on Radio New Zealand about a month ago. They reported that German scientists have found that levels of glyphosate, the active ingredient in the weedkiller called RoundUp, have increased 500 times since 1994,
1994 was the year that Monsanto introduced their ‘RoundUp Ready’, genetically modified seeds, to the agriculture industry. RoundUp Ready seeds are patented seeds, which means you have to buy them, and these patented seeds are designed to withstand any amount of glyphosate-containing RoundUp. This means that the farmer, or grower, can spray any amount of glyphosate-containing weedkiller over these genetically modified seeds, or growing plants, and the weedkiller will not kill the genetically modified seeds or plants, but it will kill everything else that grows around the RoundUp Ready plants.
So the plant keeps on growing, whilst any amount of glyphosate weedkiller, known as RoundUp, or – new name change to dupe the public -G360, which still contains glyphosate, is sprayed on regularly to kill the weeds. This glyphosate-containing weedkiller is absorbed into the plant. As the plant keeps on growing, it absorbs some of the glyphosate weedkiller each time a spraying occurs. Then WE GET TO EAT IT.
So, no wonder that glyphosate levels in our food is up 500 times since 1994, when RoundUp Ready seeds were first marketed by Monsanto.
And no wonder that asthma and other breathing problems, plus eczema, arthritis, candida related sicknesses such as cancer, depression and nervous diseases, such as multiple sclerosis and parkinsons, are all increasing rapidly.
I am currently living in the wild west of New Zealand spraying culture in Dunedin. Hundreds of miles of country roads are sprayed regularly with tonnes and tonnes of weedkiller. Maybe the council is not using glyphosate anymore, I do not know, but the effect on our health is still disastrous. Last year, I took photos of one of the town’s water reservoirs, which had been sprayed right around with weedkiller, with the adjoining road heavily polluted with sprayed, dead grass which you could see for miles down the road.
Dunedin is a very small city, so the country is very close to us, no matter where you live here.
It is obvous that my grandsons are being affected by the spraying. Each time a massive spraying occurs, they succumb to asthma-like illness. I notice that many old people get pneumonia, severe flu, or other illnesses after sprayings occur.
1080 pesticide is another problem to our health. This affects the nervous system very dramatically, which is not a surprise, since it kills wildlife by destroying their nervous systems. Large areas of land have been poisoned with 1080 in Dunedin over the past few months, which I am sure caused much lung disease, depression and heart troubles in our community. I became very ill with a mysterious nervous condition, resulting in extreme weakness, when the nature reserve only a few doors down was dosed with 1080 recently.
It is such a shame that New Zealand ‘Forest And Bird Society’, and, I think, even the ‘Green Party’, endorse the use of 1080 pesticide. They have no idea about the damage being done to all wildlife, and our water and food chain, through use of 1080, but keep a romantic idea of preserving the native bush and birds without any sense of reality.
Is 1080 Responsible For Sick Cat, Dead Birds, Kaikorai Valley Dunedin
Environment And Health At Risk
1080 is, I am sure, threatening our health, the health of animals, and also the very birds it is meant to be protecting. It is getting into our waterways, which will kill fish and the life which fish are dependent on for food. This contaminated drinking water will be a danger to our own health too. As well as 1080, we have toxic herbicides, such as glyphosate in RoundUp, being sprayed vociferously about the country roads and city parks and reserves. These poisons also end up in the waterways and affect our health.
Today is Sunday, 29th October, 2017. I live nearby the Kaikorai Valley Reserve, in Dunedin. My house is about 15 metres from the reserve. Yesterday, I saw a dead duck lying in a drain by the roadway which runs alongside the Kaikorai Reserve. The day before that, on Friday, I saw a dead seagull lying on the grass in the park adjacent to the Kaikorai Valley Reserve. I wonder if 1080 is the cause of these birds dying, and the cause of sudden debilitation in health recently.
It is interesting to me that the Kaikorai Reserve has been closed off to the public for quite a few weeks now. No sign was up, but some orange netting has been blocking the entranceway. I also find it interesting that during this time, a neighbour of mine who lives even closer to the reserve than me, had an emergency visit to hospital. He said he felt ill and had a very flushed face. But no heart pain. The hospital told him he was having a heart attack, and put a stent into his heart while he was there. Perhaps he did have a weak heart, but his condition would have undoubtedly been made worse by what I suspect was 1080 next door.
Earlier this year, sometime in January, I came across a kereru – native wood pigeon – which had died on the footpath, only 30 yards or so up from the entrance to the Kaikorai walkway. It was still fresh, and a wild cat was eating out the flesh of the belly. It is possible that the feral cat had killed the pigeon as it sat above on the overhanging branch of a tree, but it is also possible that this bird had been poisoned by 1080 before the cat got to it.
About three years ago, in Te Aroha, I walked with a friend a good way up Te Aroha mountain, which is in the Waikato. A notice was at the bottom of the hill, announcing that 1080 had been dropped, and this advised that one should not take a dog into the area. We got half way up the mountain in complete silence. Not one bird to be seen, and not one bird sound. We were about an hour or two doing the walk, and no birds were to be seen the whole time.
My neighbour tells me that the council have been dropping a lot of 1080 around Dunedin’s parks and reserves. All I can find about recent 1080 drops around Dunedin is this article:
Silverstream Pest Control – Dunedin City Council
www.dunedin.govt.nz › Facilities › Walking tracks
Aug 17, 2017 – The Dunedin City Council has agreed to a request from OSPRI to undertake a pest control operation using 1080 on council land in the …
On the 10th October, 2017, which I remember well, because it was my grandson’s birthday, we all felt ill at my family’s house. They live at Sawyer’s Bay, which has a good-size reserve and water-catchment area at the top of the hill. I suspect that the cause of their sickness was because the 1080 pesticide was dropped here too.
On the previous Saturday, 7th October, 2017, I had felt so ill I was having doubts about going to the birthday party, thinking I might have to have a visit to hospital for life support. That day my neighbour’s cat, a very healthy, young, gregarious male, vomitted up his food at my house. He did the same thing on the following day, and again, vomitted up his food on the third day in a row. He has never ever been ill during the time I have been here – 1 1/2 years. He was ill at the very same time, on the very same days when I felt sudden nausea and thought I would collapse because of some unknown toxic poisoning. My daughter and my grandson were also feeling very ill at the same time.
Earlier in the year, on New Year’s Eve, I had a similar experience of weakness which was combined with memory loss. I had seen workers spraying herbicide along the motorway as I travelled on the bus to Mosgiel and back. On that occasion, my neighbour called the ambulance to take me to hospital. Many tests were done, and they declared that nothing was wrong with me physically. A brain scan was done also, and that showed nothing wrong other than the slight deterioration which comes with age. After this sudden episode of debilitation, I discovered that all the country roads in the surrounding district had been sprayed with toxic herbicide. I assumed it was RoundUp, which the World Health Organization now suspect as a major cause of cancer, but I think the council’s contractors have changed the type of spray being used. It is no better for the health, though, than the more common RoundUp.
1080 is yet another poison which is being used widely in our environment, to the detriment of health of all living creatures. Many of my friends and school-mates have died in recent years, mostly of cancer, before reaching 65. Life expectancy is lessening in New Zealand for even well-off people, mainly because of the poisons in our air, food and water.