What to Know About The Neon Blue Wild Pigs Roaming The Bay Area

MONTEREY COUNTY, CA — A trapper found wild pigs in Monterey County with neon blue tissue, and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife is now warning residents to be weary of contaminated meat and to take precautions to protect local wildlife from rodent pesticides believed to have caused it.

A pesticide bait containing the anticoagulant rodenticide diphacinone appears to be what caused blue muscle or fat to be found in wild pigs in Monterey County, according to California Department of Fish and Wildlife Health Lab and the California Animal Health and Food Safety Laboratory in Davis.

Wildlife can be exposed to rodenticide bait by eating it or other animals that have ingested the bait. Rodenticide baits are often dyed different colors to identify them as poison, according to state officials.

“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 Dr. Ryan Bourbour, California Department of Fish and Wildlife pesticide investigations coordinator. “Rodenticide exposure can be a concern for non-target wildlife in areas where applications occur in close proximity to wildlife habitat.”

Finding blue-colored muscle or fat in wild animals may be a sign they have been contaminated by rodenticides, but the blue discoloration may not always be present, the department warned.

Dan Burton, who traps pigs for clients through his wildlife control company in Salinas, was shocked in March when he cut into a pig to find the blue meat inside, according to a report by the Los Angeles Times.

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

If the blue meat is consumed, animals and people can suffer from secondary exposure due to the poison remaining for a time in the organs and tissues of the poisoned animals, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife reported.

Burton told the Los Angeles Times he believes the wild pigs are targeting squirrel bait stations.

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

The company Burton was hired by has since pulled the traps, worrying it is attracting other animals.

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife is encouraging hunters to report unusual findings in wildlife, including blue tissue, and not to eat any part of an animal with blue fat or muscle or other abnormalities