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- Illegal growing rooms threaten the lives of animals, especially owls.
- Their main food is rodents, who are often poisoned by chemicals from these growing rooms.
If you asked the owls, they would probably vote against legalizing marijuana.
New research reveals that several species, including the Northern Spotted Owl, are poisoned by rats from thousands of "unauthorized private marijuana-grown sites" in the northwestern California area of Humboldt, Mendocino and Del Norte.
It is the contamination of the primary food source of owls - mice and rats, which, like humans, are attracted to aromatic crops - this has been the destruction of animals. Scientists from the University of California, Davis, and the California Academy of Sciences found traces of anticoagulant rodenticide in 7 out of 10 egg shells spotted owl, kwhich were collected according to the study published on January 11, 2018 in Avian Conservation and Ecology/ span>
A species that is listed as endangered on Federalendangered species is not the only victim of toxic substances. Striped Owl, which feeds on food from the same environment as its related species, is exposed to the same risk of prey.
Of the 84 dead owls, the scientists took samples and about 34 to 40 percent were positive for a substance that prevents blood clotting from the body and can result in uncontrolled internal bleeding.
The situation is also aggravated by the fact that private, illegal or otherwise unauthorized marijuana growers are located in places such as private forests and often overlap with places where spotted owls and their food are found.
Owls tend to feed along the forest boundaries. Because the growing plants divide these forest landscapes, they are likely to be a source of poisoning.
After deployment Proposition 64, due to the voter initiative of 2016 to legalize cannabis at Golden State, experts say they expect an increase in both the number and size of these unofficial growing roomscannabis.
Researchers say this trend could make things worse. Even with the introduction of legal sales of medical marijuana, most of the black marketers remain.
Illegal marijuana growing rooms
For example, only a fraction (about 4,500 to 15,000) of Humboldt Countrys private growing areas operate with regulatory oversight.
"If you have thousands of uncertified cannabis growers and only a handful of biologists are trying to regulate them in several counties, we are deeply concerned that there are insufficient protective measures. dangerous for owls and other wildlife.
The results of the study support further exploration of the fragile relationships that balance nature in nature.
"Accessing these samples from the owls allows us to explore the health of the entire regional forest system", said Jack Dumbacher, curator of ornithology and mammalogy at the California Academy of Sciences, where autopsies were performed on these owls. "I use our funds to create a specific scientific case to enhance forest protection and species protection before it gets too late."