legs ... after laying his deadly poison in land crab burrows at a nature reserve.

The pest controller was caught by a Government conservationist confusing the burrows at Spittal Pond for rat holes.

And his blushes soon multiplied when he realised he shouldn't even have been there in the first place.

It appeared he had absent-mindedly wandered on to the reserve from a nearby dairy farm.

Government's chief conservation officer Dr. David Wingate was told about the transgression.

And he reported the red-faced rat poisoner to Mr. Martin Law, the supervisor of the Health Department's pest control division.

Dr. Wingate told The Royal Gazette he was astounded by the incident.

"It was clear the man had no ecological understanding of his job,'' he said.

Dr. Wingate warned of the deadly power of pesticides, used widely throughout Bermuda.

"You have got to be very, very careful with the stuff.'' Dr. Wingate said rat poison caused internal haemorrhaging, and it was unlikely to do land crabs much good.

He added the rat poisoner had been spotted by a member of the Environment Ministry's conservation unit.

"The man was fairly remote from the dairy farm,'' he said.

Dr. Wingate claimed owls were a natural controller of rats at the nature reserve.

Yesterday Mr. Law admitted he had received a complaint -- but had been unable to substantiate it.

"It could have been a genuine mistake. The allegation has been levelled, and I can't really say any more.''