General Project Description
The Clemson Bobcat & Rodenticide Study is a collaborative research effort aimed at understanding the connection between human development, rodenticide use, and bobcat populations in the Southeastern US. This study spans two barrier islands along the South Carolina coast and is one of the few attempts to document and understand the prevalence of anticoagulant rodenticides (ARs) in the Southeast, and the first of its kind in South Carolina. Further, this research aims to highlight the effect of ARs on bobcat movement, habitat use, and prey preference.
The study is housed within the Jachowski Lab at Clemson University and led by PhD candidate Meghan Keating. This project is a collaborative effort between Clemson University, the Town of Kiawah Island, the Kiawah Conservancy, the Kiawah Island Community Association, the Yawkey Foundation, and the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources.
The study is housed within the Jachowski Lab at Clemson University and led by PhD candidate Meghan Keating. This project is a collaborative effort between Clemson University, the Town of Kiawah Island, the Kiawah Conservancy, the Kiawah Island Community Association, the Yawkey Foundation, and the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources.
What are anticoagulant rodenticides?
ARs are a pesticide used to control commensal rodents in residential, commercial, and agricultural settings. ARs effectively blocking vitamin K recycling, an important component of blood clotting, and ultimately kill rodents through severe blood loss. ARs were developed over several decades, and are sometimes known as first-generation (warfarins) or second-generation (superwarfarins) compound. Second-generations ARs are more potent than their first-generation counterparts and have a high risk of non-target exposure, or poisoning animals other than rodents, through ingestion of poisoned prey. Death by ARs is not immediate, so target rodents can be preyed upon by animals such as bobcats, who then experience similar effects, but often less acutely lethal, effects of the rodenticide.
Non-target exposure of ARs has been documented globally, however acute poisoning is rarely seen. Typically, exposed animals are susceptible to other ailments such as mange, lethargy, and sub-lethal internal hemorrhaging. The findings on Kiawah Island represent one of few examples of acute poisoning by ARs, catalyzing further efforts to understanding the relationship between AR prevalence and bobcat ecology.
Non-target exposure of ARs has been documented globally, however acute poisoning is rarely seen. Typically, exposed animals are susceptible to other ailments such as mange, lethargy, and sub-lethal internal hemorrhaging. The findings on Kiawah Island represent one of few examples of acute poisoning by ARs, catalyzing further efforts to understanding the relationship between AR prevalence and bobcat ecology.
In the News
The Last Meal. Decipher Creative Inquiry Magazine. November 2023.
The Grassroots effort to save Kiawah Island's bobcats. Sierra Magazine. May 2023.
Clemson Bobcat and Rodenticide Project. The Wildlife Society Southeastern Section. February 2023.
Positive trends among bobcat population on Kiawah Island. ABC 4 News Charleston. October 2022.
The Grassroots effort to save Kiawah Island's bobcats. Sierra Magazine. May 2023.
Clemson Bobcat and Rodenticide Project. The Wildlife Society Southeastern Section. February 2023.
Positive trends among bobcat population on Kiawah Island. ABC 4 News Charleston. October 2022.