Groups push for limits on rat poison in Mass. after bald eagle dies Modified: 5/6/2021 9:59:27 PM BOSTON — Animal rights groups are pressing Massachusetts lawmakers to limit the use of highly toxic rat poison following the death of a bald eagle blamed on the poison. The bald eagle that died in March along the Charles River was poisoned after ingesting a toxic substance meant to kill vermin. State wildlife officials said the eagle succumbed to poisoning from a “second-generation anticoagulant rodenticide.” The second-generation anticoagulants prevent blood from clotting normally, resulting in a fatal hemorrhage. They are more toxic than first-generation poisons. It’s the first time that such a fatality in a bald eagle has been reported in Massachusetts, officials said, although mortalities in bald eagles due to the poison have occurred in other states.