A young hawk, whatever you call them, in Riverside.

Rat poison seems to be all too prevalent in New York City’s parks.

First, a (possibly insane) Park Slope resident began posting on the Brooklynian website about his or her plan to use poison as a form of pigeon control; then a woman on the same message board claimed that the poison had killed her cat, Scrumbles; and now hawk watchers are outraged at the carelessness of the Parks Department’s mode of rat control.

We’re not sure whether the alleged Park Slope Pigeon Killer is actually running around JJ Byrne Park sprinkling “Tres Pasitos” poison on bird food, but according to DNAinfo, the Park Department’s rat poison has already claimed the life of one hawk. The department discontinued its policy of planting poison in parks to control the rat population, but one uninformed employee continued using the extermination technique—near a hawk’s nest in Riverside Park.

“The two young hawks are learning to hunt,” hawk watcher Pamela Langford told DNAinfo. “They could easily catch a rat that had been poisoned.”

As it’s becoming rather apparent that poison intended for one creature can be easily picked up by others, we ask: who’s next?

pengel@observer.com

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