Thanks, NBD. Will watch when time permits. In the meantime, here's one to wrap your chemical engineering brain around. Towit: During the aforementioned mouse plague I was complaining to one of Consuela's girlfriends about the cost of mice and rat poisons, which we farmers were buying in 50kg buckets. Aside from the eyewatering cost I had discovered that owls were being killed in their hundreds, given they were hunting the slow, poisoned rodents (snakes unaffected). Both the cost of traditional poison and more so the killing of owls distressed me much and I was looking for an alternative. In any case said girlfriend (of Consuela's) suggested I try plaster of Paris mixed with sugar or other sweet powder, given it was non-toxic and 75% cheaper than traditional poison. The effect on mice eating this concoction was said to turn their stomachs to concrete, which caused death. And any wildlife consuming an effected mouse in the throws of death (still moving) were not harmed due to the chemical reaction having already taken place, and the miniature ball of concrete small enough for the owl (or other) to pass without difficulty.
Wishing to test this theory out and observe the result, I purchased several green friendly mice traps to capture them live, which I baited with bacon. Now here comes the rub for you chemical analysis, NBD. The bacon killed the mice. Puzzled, I rang the CSIRO to see if they had any data on mice and the negative effects of bacon on mice. They didn't, but they were so interested in my discovery that they subsequently began to experiment, given bacon was way cheaper than traditional rat/mice poison, and may have some benefit to the agricultural industry. I never did hear any more about their mouse/bacon experimentation, but thought you (NBD) might have some idea why bacon kills mice?
As for the other concoction of plaster of Paris mixed with sweet powder, I trialed it in great and cheap quantities using 10 parts pollyfiller, 2 parts sugar and 2 parts custard powder. The mice ate it with gusto and died in their thousands, and no more dead owls or any other carnivorous wildlife were found dead. Caveat: This concoction of powders was placed where dogs and children could not venture - much like traditional poisons.
