DATE:     9/21/99
CONTACT:  Cam Lay, (864) 656-2150

Eggs Illegally Baited with Pesticides Used to Kill Wildlife

     CLEMSON -- Agents of Clemson University's Department of
Pesticide Regulation are conducting an investigation to determine
if chicken eggs laced with a pesticide have been used as a means
of controlling species that prey on quail and turkeys. 
     "We've seen this before," said Cam Lay, assistant department
head with DPR. "We've had several cases over the years where
these ill-considered predator-control efforts have killed
wildlife, pets, hunting dogs, and anything else that ran across
them. The irony is that they usually don't work nearly as well 
against the targeted predator as they do against other animals."  
     Lay said that such "home-brewed" practices are also illegal 
under state and federal statutes, and that successful
prosecutions generally result in substantial fines or
imprisonment.  
     In Jasper County, children playing in the woods stumbled 
across the eggs. One child soon had to be rushed to the hospital
for pesticide poisoning.  
     "Hunting club managers in some of our neighboring states
have been prosecuted for this practice," Lay said. "It's
dangerous, it's illegal and it's stupid. What happened to this
poor kid is a good example of why that's so."  
     "The practice is being investigated in the coastal area but
it could also be happening across the state," Lay said. "We need
people's help to stop this kind of thing before someone does get
killed."
     Residents are strongly urged not to touch or remove any
suspicious chicken eggs or dead wildlife they find and to report
locations where suspect eggs are found.
     Individuals with information that might be useful to the 
investigation are urged to contact the nearest Pesticide
Regulation office at 864-646-2150.
                         END