The Quiet Pesticide Pandemic

Food Chain Radio Podcast with Michael Olson

Judy Hoy, Author, Changing Faces & Amazing Wildlife

On a previous edition of the Food Chain we talked with Marc Cooke of Wolves of the Rockies in Stevensville, Montana about the attempt to manage the predation of wolves, bears and lions.

Marc made note of the fact that, to make it possible for farmers and ranchers to tolerate the predation of domestic animals by predators, they are paid up to 300 percent of the market value for each animal lost to the predators.

Consequent to that conversation, I received a note from Judy Hoy, who was also a Food Chain guest from Stevensville, Montana. Judy’s note read, in part:

“When domestic animals die from being exposed to pesticides, the predators like wolves or grizzlies or coyotes eat them. Then the livestock owner reports that the wolves or grizzly killed the cow or sheep, so he or she can be paid for it. Livestock owners totally refuse to admit that their animals are being born with birth defects. The Agricultural Department told me that if the livestock have birth defects, it is up to the livestock owner to take care of it. How they are supposed to do that when it is raining and snowing pesticides on all the plants the livestock eat, resulting in the fetuses getting exposed and causing birth defects? I have no idea how they are supposed to take care of that, do you?”

Judy’s note, and her years of wildlife research, point to a quiet pandemic of pesticide devastation that appears to be gathering volition throughout the world. This quiet pandemic leads us to ask:

Is what is deforming wildlife deforming people?