A film by Deborah Vatcher, © 2023

On the evening of March 2, 2023, roughly three hundred people gathered in Arlington, Massachusetts for a vigil. They assembled to mourn the loss of the beloved bald eagle of the Mystic Lakes known as MK, who died after eating prey tainted with rat poison. 

They walked to Arlington City Hall, to demand action, and a ban on second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides, or SGARs--the rat poison that killed MK. Rats and mice who eat SGAR bait become sick and sluggish as clotting factors in their blood are depleted and they begin to suffer a slow death from internal bleeding. In this weakened state they become easy targets for predators, such as eagles and hawks, and any other animal up the food chain that feeds on rodents. And as these tainted rats sicken and kill their natural predators, the balance of predator and prey in the environment tips in favor of rats. 

How does rodent control using SGARs intersect with the lives of ordinary citizens, property owners, animal advocates, lawmakers, scientists, veterinarians, and  the pest management industry? Several people close to this issue were interviewed for the film to help increase public awareness and engagement.