As others have pointed out, it is a dye used in poisons to show it is there.
Vaguely related,there was a small chemical spill near my house about a month back and it made it to the local creek. You could tell because they add that neon blue dye so that it is obvious when there is a spill.
Lost a pet dog that ate a mouse killed when my sister set out a warfarin bait. It was gruesome. Please, please think very carefully when using poisons. Secondary affects are very common, and can be tragic.
Ok that is exactly what they said, blue, neon blue.
Wow - noticeable at least!
DavidPeiffer · 2h ago
> Wow - noticeable at least!
The blue is sufficient but not necessary for the animal to be impacted by the poison. It is a very vibrant blue though, and anyone would be concerned if they opened an animal and saw that.
zahlman · 2h ago
I assumed that the blue colour would be from internal bleeding (venous blood being apparent at the skin level), but:
> Diphenadione is a vitamin K antagonist that has anticoagulant effects and is used as a rodenticide against rats, mice, voles, ground squirrels and other rodents. The chemical compound is an anti-coagulant with active half-life longer than warfarin and other synthetic 1,3-indandione anticoagulants.[3][4] ... Rat poisons with diphacinone are often dyed bright blue to signal toxicity.[8]
timcederman · 2h ago
Venous blood isn't blue.
zahlman · 2h ago
> Veins close to the surface of the skin appear blue for a variety of reasons. The factors that contribute to this alteration of color perception are related to the light-scattering properties of the skin and the processing of visual input by the visual cortex, rather than the actual colour of the venous blood which is dark red.[6]
Huh, thanks.
SoftTalker · 2h ago
Can’t imagine seeing meat that color and thinking “yeah I’ll go ahead and eat that.”
Am4TIfIsER0ppos · 36m ago
They Live
beefnugs · 2h ago
No good pictures, and bad quotes from the "expert" what kind of reporting is this?
dunefox · 57m ago
> No good pictures
There are several good pictures...
wantlotsofcurry · 2h ago
wtf...
mensetmanusman · 2h ago
Manufacturers add a bright blue triphenylmethane-type dye to baits so any subsequent observation of the carcass—can easily recognize contaminated tissue.
The dyes are large, planar aromatic molecules designed to resist rapid breakdown in the environment or the animal’s digestive tract.
xnx · 3h ago
Click bait.
The cause is known: "Blue tissue and flesh can be a sign of rodenticide ingestion, which can occur by eating bait – which often contains dye to identify them as poison."
lostlogin · 3h ago
The photo in the photo Independent link shows the colour being so vivid that flesh looks plastic. I learned something.
pempem · 2h ago
Would you prefer: "Wild pigs' flesh turning neon blue in California don't eat wild pig or other game meats you kill because they're eating the rodenticide people put out there - authorities are concerned people will not know and get sick"?
Seems wordy.
xnx · 2h ago
How about: "California hunters find wild pig meat tainted neon blue by rat poison"
No comments yet
bikenaga · 2h ago
Looking at the title I can see your point - you're thinking something like "Rodenticide consumption turns pigs' flesh blue" would have been better? I try to stick with the original title, but since I had to edit it to make it fit anyway, I guess I could have made it less click-baity. Thanks for the suggestion.
xnx · 1h ago
Leaving the title as is was the right thing. It's an interesting story. Thanks for sharing. My complaint is more with phys.org (and the entire rest of the attention economy) that is foremost focused in getting your attention instead of informing.
gopher_space · 1h ago
It's only clickbait if the cause was the important part of the article for you.
mcphage · 3h ago
I’m not sure how reporting on a thing of concern that is happening counts as clickbait. That’s just… reporting.
perching_aix · 2h ago
The title makes it sound like the cause is unknown and so this is mysterious, a possible cause for panic. Hence why GP specifically leads with that the cause is actually known and even explained in the article...
baq · 2h ago
Title doesn’t say anything about whether the cause is known or isn’t.
zahlman · 2h ago
It describes a phenomenon that a layperson would find extraordinary, and does not mention the cause, which is in fact known. It's reasonable to interpret this as suppressing the cause from a title which reasonably ought to mention it.
perching_aix · 2h ago
Yes, that's how hinting works: you don't spell the stuff out. Hence why it's a bait (something misleading), and not an outright lie.
7402 · 2h ago
It's a pun. I think? The article references squirrel bait as the cause. "Bait" combined with an article that you click on. So ... "click" "bait." Get it?
The tipoff is that people usually write it as one word, "clickbait," when talking about a sensationalistic title designed to simulates clicks generating ad revenue.
OK, so maybe that person's joke wasn't so successful, but it seems like a fairly gentle attempt, which shouldn't be punished.
fallinghawks · 2h ago
Yes and no. OP's title says alarm: great fear and concern. However, there was reporting back in 2015 (https://gilroydispatch.com/blue-pig-shot-at-morgan-hill-ranc...) about this identical issue. The cause and the solution was known then, and even before.
GeekyBear · 2h ago
Information on why some states and the Feds have chosen to attempt to eradicate feral pig populations:
> How are feral pigs destructive? Let us count the ways.
They are invasive and cause millions of dollars in agricultural damage each year, rooting and trampling through a wide variety of crops. They prey on everything from rodents, to deer, to endangered loggerhead sea turtles, threatening to reduce the diversity of native species. They disrupt habitats. They damage archaeological sites. They are capable of transmitting diseases to domestic animals and humans. In November, a woman died in Texas after being attacked by feral hogs—a very rare, but not unprecedented occurrence.
They also breed extraordinarily quickly. Females are capable of reproducing at only 3 months old, are fertile year round, have a gestation period of only 115 days, and produce litters of 4-6 per pregnancy. Even with control efforts, populations have been growing at a rate of ~20% annually.
octopoc · 1h ago
Yeah I’ve heard that you can legally use corn with alcohol poured over it as bait for wild pigs in some states. When they’re good and drunk, you turn your headlights on and start shooting. Playing the national anthem while doing it helps disorient them as well.
dunefox · 56m ago
Which national anthem? Does it have to be the national anthem, or do other songs work as well?
tejohnso · 3h ago
>Blue tissue and flesh can be a sign of rodenticide ingestion, which can occur by eating bait – which often contain dye to identify them as poison
pjs_ · 5m ago
Good
profsummergig · 2h ago
This was discovered while someone was "processing" a pig.
"Processing" usually means taking the meat out for consumption, the skin for leather, etc.
Any idea why the meat of a wild pig was being processed in CA? What would they have done with it?
SECProto · 2h ago
> Any idea why the meat of a wild pig was being processed in CA? What would they have done with it?
From the article:
Burton said his company discovered the affected animals when it was hired by an agriculture firm in late February and March to trap wild pigs that were going into the firm's fields.
His company traps the pigs and then euthanizes them according to state law, he said. He usually donates the carcass and meat of the pigs to low-income families.
ultimafan · 1h ago
Eat it- plenty of people hunt boar for the meat just like other wild animals. I'm not the biggest fan of the taste but have friends that enjoy it.
mondainx · 2h ago
Down for some green eggs and ham, but not blue ham..
evan_ · 1h ago
Would you like it in a house? Would you like it with a mouse?
vpribish · 2h ago
clickbait headline - could easily be made less offensive and more informative :
"Wild pig flesh turns neon blue after eating rodent poison"
California, Authorities, and Alarm are all unneeded
pessimizer · 1h ago
> "Wild pig flesh turns neon blue after eating rodent poison"
That is the worst imaginable headline. No part of it is news, it is trivia.
How about:
"California's wild pigs being poisoned: Authorities are sounding the alarm"
Eh, too much news, boring.
Could there be a way to mix the two headlines to make the story both interesting and informative?
kmeisthax · 3h ago
Casual reminder that rat poison does not selectively kill only rats. Even if it works as intended, the poisoned rats will get eaten and the poison will flow up the food chain.
atmavatar · 2h ago
Even worse: toxins can often become more concentrated as you move up a contaminated food chain.
Vaguely related,there was a small chemical spill near my house about a month back and it made it to the local creek. You could tell because they add that neon blue dye so that it is obvious when there is a spill.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/jul/17/banyule-...
Wow - noticeable at least!
The blue is sufficient but not necessary for the animal to be impacted by the poison. It is a very vibrant blue though, and anyone would be concerned if they opened an animal and saw that.
> Diphenadione is a vitamin K antagonist that has anticoagulant effects and is used as a rodenticide against rats, mice, voles, ground squirrels and other rodents. The chemical compound is an anti-coagulant with active half-life longer than warfarin and other synthetic 1,3-indandione anticoagulants.[3][4] ... Rat poisons with diphacinone are often dyed bright blue to signal toxicity.[8]
Huh, thanks.
There are several good pictures...
The dyes are large, planar aromatic molecules designed to resist rapid breakdown in the environment or the animal’s digestive tract.
The cause is known: "Blue tissue and flesh can be a sign of rodenticide ingestion, which can occur by eating bait – which often contains dye to identify them as poison."
Seems wordy.
No comments yet
The tipoff is that people usually write it as one word, "clickbait," when talking about a sensationalistic title designed to simulates clicks generating ad revenue.
OK, so maybe that person's joke wasn't so successful, but it seems like a fairly gentle attempt, which shouldn't be punished.
> How are feral pigs destructive? Let us count the ways.
They are invasive and cause millions of dollars in agricultural damage each year, rooting and trampling through a wide variety of crops. They prey on everything from rodents, to deer, to endangered loggerhead sea turtles, threatening to reduce the diversity of native species. They disrupt habitats. They damage archaeological sites. They are capable of transmitting diseases to domestic animals and humans. In November, a woman died in Texas after being attacked by feral hogs—a very rare, but not unprecedented occurrence.
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/feral-pigs-are-inv...
"Processing" usually means taking the meat out for consumption, the skin for leather, etc.
Any idea why the meat of a wild pig was being processed in CA? What would they have done with it?
From the article:
Burton said his company discovered the affected animals when it was hired by an agriculture firm in late February and March to trap wild pigs that were going into the firm's fields.
His company traps the pigs and then euthanizes them according to state law, he said. He usually donates the carcass and meat of the pigs to low-income families.
"Wild pig flesh turns neon blue after eating rodent poison"
California, Authorities, and Alarm are all unneeded
That is the worst imaginable headline. No part of it is news, it is trivia.
How about:
"California's wild pigs being poisoned: Authorities are sounding the alarm"
Eh, too much news, boring.
Could there be a way to mix the two headlines to make the story both interesting and informative?