Don't Eat California's Blue Meat Pigs

Hunters and trappers are being warned not to eat wild pigs with blue flesh because they may be contaminated with rat poison. (Photo by Slaton)

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife is warning hunters and trappers to not consume wild pigs that have blue flesh and fat.

This warning comes after a trapper cut open a wild pig he’d trapped in Monterey County and found blue meat inside.

“I’m not talking about a little blue,” Dan Burton, owner of Urban Trapping Wildlife Control, told LA Times. “I’m talking about neon blue, blueberry blue.”

The agency said the blue meat is a sign that the animal may have consumed poison.

According to a statement from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, the pig’s bright blue tissue suggests it may have been exposed to anticoagulant rodenticide diphacinone, a popular poison used by farmers and agriculture companies to control vermin such as rats, mice, squirrels and other small animals.

Authorities say rodenticide baits often contain dye to identify them as a poison.

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“Hunters should be aware that the meat of game animals, such as wild pig, deer, bear and geese, might be contaminated if that game animal has been exposed to rodenticides,” said Ryan Bourbor, pesticide investigations coordinator with the state agency.

Hunters are warned not to consume any meat from an animal with signs of the blue pigmentation in their meat or fat, and to report the find to officials.

Those who consume animals that were poisoned by diphacinone can suffer “secondary exposure” to the poison because the substance can remain in the organs and tissue of the poisoned animal for some time.

A study published in 2011 showed that cooking meat tainted with diphacinone had little effect on the concentration of the poison and recommended that “consumption of pig meat obtained from areas with active rodent control programs should be avoided.”

The CDFW said it became aware of the wild pigs’ exposure to rat poison in March, when a trapper in Monterey County reported finding several wild pigs with blue muscle and fat.

A statement from the agency said its Wildlife Health Lab found diphacinone in the stomach and liver of one pig.

Officials also warn that the flesh of animals that have been exposed to the poison may not always present the blue coloring.

Burton said his company was hired by an agriculture firm in late February and March to trap pigs that were going into the firm’s fields. It was then that he discovered the affected animals.

He said he usually donates the carcasses and pigs’ meat to low-income families. But in this case, the pigs were found with bright blue meat and fat when they were cut open.

“I thought, OK, that’s weird,” Burton said.

Upon investigation, Burton discovered that the animals were feeding at squirrel bait stations in the field, which were being used to control the squirrel population.

“These pigs were seeking [the bait traps] out,” Burton said. “I saw them trying to flip it over, breaking them, trying to get access to the poison.”

Although they were consuming the poisonous bait, the pigs weren’t automatically dying because the poison was designed to kill much smaller animals, Burton said. The pigs, which weighed between 100 and 200 pounds, appeared to be acting normally even though their tissue was visibly affected by the poison.