Squirrels have no registered rodenticides. Squirrels may eat food in the attic, so like rats, they will consume rat poison. And, since rat poison is not intended for squirrels, does D-Con rat poison kill squirrels?
Yes, D-con kills squirrels within a week. Ground squirrels can also be controlled with D-con. It eliminates ground squirrels after just one feeding, allowing the population to fall more quickly.
Rat poison is frequently used against squirrels as a form of bait, which causes many squirrel deaths. The more they eat the bait, the more likely they are to die. To learn more about d-con poison, read the article below.
What Is D-Con?
The UK-based consumer products company Reckitt owns and distributes the American brand of d-CON rodent control products in the United States.
The d-CON line of products includes baits and traps that can be used around the house to catch and kill mice and rats. As of 2015, bait products were poisoned with first-generation vitamin K anticoagulants.
The active ingredient in rodenticides is a neurotoxin called Bromethalin. According to the Pet Poison Helpline, exposure to bromethalin among domestic cats and dogs has increased by 800% over the past nine years.
D-CON shifted away from anticoagulant active ingredients like brodifacoum, Bromadiolone, dimethicone, and diphacinone and toward cholecalciferol (Vitamin D3).
Cholecalciferol is the active component in d-Con bait blocks and does not contain any anticoagulants or neurotoxins. This main ingredient is not the only one in bait blocks; it is combined with fat, flour, and sugar to make it appealing to mice.
What Is The Active Ingredient In d-CON?
D-Con’s active ingredient is cholecalciferol, also known as activated vitamin D3. It results in severe, acute kidney failure by raising the calcium and phosphorus levels in the body to life-threatening levels.
This can lead to chronic kidney failure, which can have long-term consequences. Common symptoms of poisoning may not appear for 1-2 days after the poison has caused significant damage to the body.
Unfortunately, there is no antidote for cholecalciferol poisoning, and it is one of the most difficult poisoning cases to treat, as hospitalization, frequent laboratory monitoring, and expensive therapy are frequently required for a positive outcome.
A combination of aggressive IV fluid therapy (for 2-3 days) and specific medications (such as diuretics, steroids, calcitonin, and bisphosphonates) is used to lower the body’s calcium levels.
A period of 2–6 weeks following ingestion is frequently required for regular checking of blood task calcium, phosphorus, and renal function values.
Will D’con Rat Poison Kill Squirrels?
D-con, yes. Squirrels are killed by D’con Rat Poison. They will eliminate all pests within a week or less. The only recommendation is to keep anti-coagulation D-con poisons out of reach of children and domestic animals.
Rat poison comes in a wide variety of forms, and some of them can be fatal to squirrels. Rat poison is frequently used against squirrels as a form of bait, which causes many squirrel deaths. The more they eat the bait, the more likely they are to perish.
Squirrels can be killed by rat poison. Rat poison can be detected by squirrels, who generally stay away from locations where it is used. Ground squirrels can be managed using zinc phosphide, an acute toxicant.
Compared to anticoagulants, it can reduce the population of ground squirrels faster because it kills them after just one feeding. However, many ground squirrels appear to avoid zinc phosphide because of its distinct taste and odor.
Will D’con Kill Ground Squirrels?
For ground squirrels, there are no approved rodenticides. Unlike rats, squirrels never eat in attics, so they won’t ingest D-con poison. Additionally, if ground squirrels ate the rat poison D-con, they might not have died because it is not intended for them.
Ground squirrels can be killed with zinc phosphide, a powerful poison. Because it can eradicate ground squirrel populations faster than D-con anticoagulants, it can do so after just one feeding.
When ground squirrel communities are big or cover a larger area, simulcast implementations of zinc phosphide can be used. This is a viable and cost-effective method.
A ground squirrel that has consumed a toxic dose of zinc phosphate succumbs to its toxicity between 15 minutes and 4 hours later, showing how quickly the medication works. Loss of appetite, followed by spasms, paralysis, and death, is the severe signs of Zinc Phosphide consumption.
How Does D-CON Poison Work?
This is how D-con poison work:
- Cholecalciferol, which uses neither neurotoxins nor anticoagulants, is the active component in d-Con bait blocks.
- In addition to this active ingredient, bait blocks also contain fat, flour, and sugar to make them more appetizing to rodents.
- Children and dogs are unable to tamper with d-Con refillable bait stations. The single-use model is resistant to children. If your pet accidentally consumes the bait from this device, contact the veterinarian.
- The mice don’t immediately perish after consuming the bait; instead, they go back to their nest.
- Check the clear window of the d-Con bait station. If the bait hasn’t been gnawed, relocate the device.
- Rodents usually start dying three days after eating the bait. Infestation signs should also vanish at that point.
- You won’t have to deal with dead pests because rodents don’t die immediately after eating the bait.
How Long Does It Take D-Con To Kill A Squirrel?
D-con products are classified into three types, each with a different time to kill a rodent.
- To deliver a lethal dose of first-generation anticoagulants, rodents typically require multiple feedings. Death usually happens within 5-7 days. Anticoagulants prevent blood clotting, and excessive bleeding can result in death.
- More toxic and long-lasting than first-generation anticoagulants are second-generation anticoagulants. Second-generation anticoagulants can be consumed by rodents in a lethal dose in a single feeding session, but they can consume more because death typically occurs 5-7 days after ingesting a lethal dose.
- Because rodents consume more poison over a longer period and second-generation anticoagulants last much longer in rodent carcasses than first-generation anticoagulants, there is a higher risk to predators and scavengers. Second-generation anticoagulants include :
1- Brodifacoum,
2- Bromadiolone,
3- Difenacoum, and
4- Difethialone.
Non-anticoagulants can also be toxic to other body organs or the nervous system.
Where Do You Put D-Con?
Places to Install D-con:
Install the station in areas where you see signs of squirrel activity, such as in garden trees. The bait will be visible through the station, allowing you to determine whether or not squirrels are eating it.
Once the bait is loaded, there is no need to touch it. After a few days, if you still don’t see eat marks on the bait, try moving it to a different location.
Type of bait station used to attract squirrels:
- The most effective squirrel trap bait is peanut butter. Naturally, squirrels are attracted to nuts. The best bait for squirrels is peanut butter because it is difficult for them to snag and run away with, trying to force them to interact with the trap for the full duration of the trap’s springing time.
- Squirrels prefer harvested nuts that have fallen to the ground or that are still attached to the tree.
- Near burrows, disperse a minimal quantity of untreated grain, such as breakfast oats.
Can You Use D-Con Without The Bait Station?
No, now it is prohibited to use D-Con without the bait station the reason is entirely related to safety.
The Environmental Protection Agency now mandates that all rodent bait for domestic use be sold only with a bait station to order to prevent loose bait (such as pellets or meals) from unintentionally being consumed or tampered with by children, pets, or unintended wildlife.
It’s a tamper-proof container made specifically to keep children and animals out of a bait block, the kind of thing that squirrels and other rodents like to chew on. Rodents enter the station, consume food, and then leave; they do not perish there.
You can still buy bait, but it must be sold at a bait station. The bait station can be disposable, non-refillable, and impossible to open, or it can be refillable and come with extra bait blocks.
Refillable Station offers 4, 8, or 16 additional bait block refills, providing a significant amount of rodent protection. Because each bait block can result in the death of up to 12 squirrels.
Conclusion
Reckitt, a consumer Products Company based in the United Kingdom, owns and distributes the American brand of d-CON rodent control products in the United States. The d-CON product line includes baits and traps for catching and killing mice and rats around the house.
Cholecalciferol, also known as activated vitamin D3, is the active ingredient in D-Con. It causes severe, acute kidney failure by raising the body’s calcium and phosphorus levels to life-threatening levels.
There are no registered rodenticides for squirrels. Squirrels, like rats, may consume rat poison if they eat food in the attic. Furthermore, because rat poison is not meant for squirrels, D-con kills squirrels within a week.
D-con can also be used to control ground squirrels. It kills ground squirrels after just one feeding, allowing the population to decline faster. It is now illegal to use D-Con without a bait station for reasons entirely related to safety.
References
Baldwin, R.A., Becchetti, T.A., Meinerz, R. et al. Potential impact of diphacinone application strategies on secondary exposure risk in a common rodent pest: implications for management of California ground squirrels. Environ Sci Pollut Res 28, 45891–45902 (2021)
