Rat-carried plague in New Zealand is a new one on me. If rats in New Zealand carry plague I hate to think what would be happening to the cats and dogs that kill them--and, of course, the humans who own the cats and dogs. Yes, our dogs kill rats; try stopping them. So can we please have the statistics of all the cats and dogs killed by plaque? And could we also be told why the media haven't grabbed hold of such a mind-blowing piece of sensationalism?

In a report by DOC 'Evaluating the potential hazard of aerial 1080 poison operations to Short-tailed bats'. Lloyd,B.D pg9 it says - The possibility of secondary poisoning caused by bats consumming arthropods that have fed on 1080 baits must be taken seriously.!! Also - A moderately sized weta which had ingested a sublethal dose of 1080 within 24 hrs would be sufficient to kill a short tailed bat. Whikipedia says bats eat carrion (dead meat). I would take it that they may even injest 1080 poisoned possum. God help them. The same scientist told the Golden Bay Community (GB Weekly 24/9/2009) "The possible effects of 1080 and rat poison on bats is unknown", said Dr Lloyd. What a waste of time and money doing the report.