Monterey County, California – Wild pigs in Monterey County have been found with muscle and fat tinted an unnatural blue, a disturbing sign that the animals may have ingested toxic rodenticide bait, according to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW).
Laboratory testing confirmed the presence of diphacinone—an anticoagulant rodenticide—in the stomach and liver of one pig with the blue-tinted tissue. The chemical prevents blood from clotting, ultimately killing rodents through internal bleeding, but it can also sicken or kill non-target wildlife.
The investigation began in March when a wildlife trapper reported the unusual coloring. “I’m not talking about a little blue… I’m talking about neon blue, blueberry blue,” Dan Burton, owner of Urban Trapping Wildlife Control, told The Los Angeles Times. Samples were sent to CDFW’s Wildlife Health Lab and the California Animal Health and Food Safety Laboratory in Davis, where tests confirmed the poison’s presence…