Tuesday, Apr 24, 2012 at 20:05
Sodium Monoflouro-acetate is a naturally occurring neuro-toxin found primarily in the plant species Oxylobium and Gastrolobium in WestAust and limited areas in the NT.
Extraction from these plants is slow and difficult even under lab conditions so all Sodium Monoflouro-acetoate used now is synthetically manufactured in a number of Asian countries.
As an aside, the product name "1080" is actually the product registration number from the Lab where it was first produced synthetically in the USA many years ago..
1080 is a neuro-toxin (it affects the central nervous system) and causes total shut-down of that system. There is NO known antidote. This is what causes death, usually fairly painlessly for the target animal. I agree that watching a 1080 poisoned animal die can be fairly traumatic for those observing but research from reputable WA Ag dept scientists indicates that the animal suffers minimal pain, far less than with strychnine and infinitely less than a non fatal rifle shot or a trap.
Baits can come in a number of forms, the most common being meat injected with the poison at the correct rate (And this varies depending on the target species, dogbaits are dosed the highest, then feral cat and fox) and then dried to about 25-30% of its original weight.
Feral cat baits are usually made up into a skinned sausage to give a bit of longevity as excess moisture will reduce the effectiveness in the feild1080 is also used for rabbit control in WA where the poison is vacuum impregnated inot oats and laid as a trail (This is relatively safe for your pets as most dogs (except those breeds that will eat anything) wont touch raw grains. Some experimental work using 1080 poisoned oats for feral pig eradication has also been carried out in WA.
There has been a large amount of reaserch done into the effects of 1080poison on the various native species (particularly in WA) indicating that most native species in WA can survive much large levels than the same species in the other states of Australia. It is theorised that this is because the WA animal species have been exposed to the Oxy/Gastrolobium plants (commonly called the WA Poison Plants) for hundreds, perhaps thousands of generations and have over that time built up an increased tolerance (not Immunity as overdosing will still cause death.
What Can I do to limit the chances of my fourlegged mate being poisoned.
1. ALWAYS fit a
well fitting muzzle and preferably a lead in the Bush.
2. Train him to be instantly obedient (DROP IT means Do It Immediately)
3. Take notice of signs indicating "Poison Laid" even if the sign is old and faded there may still be an occasional bait that is still active
4. Landholders are required by law to erect signs if baits are being laid but not every few feet along a fence ar row of trees. The signs may be up to 2-300mtrs apart so have a good look around before camping in that site.
A lot of good information can be found at agric.wa.gov.au/1080poison particularly relevant to WA.
Sorry that this is so long but it's important that you know a bit about this subject.
Disco
(who spent 20+ years using this product in WA (more or less successfully)
Mr Moderator You may wish to transfer this elsewhere within the
forum.
You have my permission if you wish to do this.
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