Lead poisoning in eagles

[87TT]

Let us not forget a MAJOR carrion eater the Holy "endangered" Grizzly bear.

 

[manitou1]

yes, i'm worried we haven't killed all the magpies yet and i can't shoot them all myself. the ravens seem smart enough to pick around the lead.

Coyotes... what about the poor little coyotes, coons, and possums?

 

[long hunter]

With the exception of grizz and then only when he eats some yuppie hiker, the other critters do not get the media attention that the raptors do especially the eagles. Now do you really think saying there is a population decline of possums due to lead poison from hunters shooting lead projectiles would have much impact for the anti-crowd.

 

[long hunter]

there's a post on here somewhere about a study estimating there are 3 times as many golden eagles in Alaska than estimated. I bet it's the lead.

 

[FLATHEAD]

I see more Bald Eagles now than I ever have, I'm 55 y/o.
Seems like they're everywhere.

 

[long hunter]

Yes, there making a strong comeback. I watch a pair where I hunt deer. Have seen them in the back yard flying over last year the wife and I watched a pair with a young bird flying around looked like the older birds were teaching junior how to deal with thermals. Fifteen years ago, same area you never seen an eagle and was lucky to see a hawk, now it is a common occurrence.

 

[Ope]

Now I'm just a dumb guy not a scientist but isn't it strange, lead has been used for bullets/ball for hundreds of years but only recently (20+ years) its giving only eagles lead poisoning? What happened?

 

[Wrench]

You seem to know a lot about this topic. How does the lead get into the eagle? Any research you’ve done or links to peer reviewed science that is not trash and explains an alternative source would be an interesting addition to this debate.

I've worked on research projects where mollusk invertebrate were measured for lead as well as sturgeon and various other prey species of fish.

Lead is very much present in fish.

 

[Wrench]

I'm willing to send a check to the charity of anyone's choice who can send me 3 video clips of them discovering a single lead pellet or bullet found in typical bald eagle habitat that produces feed for the eagles.

Here's your hero opportunity.

 

[Newtosavage]

Care to share?

A lot of opinions could be classified as "counter science" because they do in fact, run counter to actual science. The term fits.

Regardless of the data, the idea that it's okay to do nothing to reduce the potential for toxins in our environment and our wildlife runs counter to everything most hunters will tell you when you ask them why they hunt. It's such a massive cognitive disconnect.

 

[CJ19]

Windmills are pretty much bird blenders yet that technology is the wave of the future. Buy your electric car.

 

[Yoder]

I heard it could still be caused by lead contamination from when we still used leaded fuel or maybe the eagles ate paint chips when they were kids.

 

[CJ19]

Windmills are pretty much bird blenders yet that technology is the wave of the future. Buy your electric car.

Wind energy company kills 150 eagles in US, pleads guilty

A subsidiary of one of the largest U.S. wind energy companies has been sentenced to probation and ordered to pay over $8 million in fines and restitution after at least 150 eagles were killed at its wind farms in eight states

abcnews.go.com

 

[long hunter]

Now I'm just a dumb guy not a scientist but isn't it strange, lead has been used for bullets/ball for hundreds of years but only recently (20+ years) its giving only eagles lead poisoning? What happened?

Its only been in the last 20 years or so that the scientists figured it would be a good way to line there pockts.

 

[Zork]

I'm willing to send a check to the charity of anyone's choice who can send me 3 video clips of them discovering a single lead pellet or bullet found in typical bald eagle habitat that produces feed for the eagles.

Here's your hero opportunity.

Flat earther I take it?

 

[Zork]

Its only been in the last 20 years or so that the scientists figured it would be a good way to line there pockts.

Yes. The scientists spend 6-10 years paying for college to make 50k a year -- best plan I've ever heard for getting rich.

How about the scientists are just figuring this shit out? Like at one point in time we didn't know what gravity was? Or any of a trillion other things that we've learned as time passed on.

I don't know whether it's willful ignorance or what here but ****. If you guys don't give a shit about eagles, why don't you just say that?

 

[Wrench]

How old were you in 2013? The scientists told us the world would end due to global warming....which is amazing since we lived through the acid rain BS of the 70's......all of which is amazing since we lived through the covid "pandemic".

Save the "flat earth" bs for your professor.

 

[Austink47]

I wish this issue was not so political. For me it was pretty simple Barns TTS kill elk just fine. My wife worked at a wild life rehab facility and most of the eagles they got in had high levels of lead in their blood. I watched a Golden eating the gut pile from an elk I killed the night before and made the decision to use copper for my hunting rounds. I don’t want to see legislation on it and think this is an opportunity the hunting community to lean forward. If for no other reason than I feel better about feeding my kid meat I know doesn’t have lead in it.

 

[WRO]

Yes. The scientists spend 6-10 years paying for college to make 50k a year -- best plan I've ever heard for getting rich.

How about the scientists are just figuring this shit out? Like at one point in time we didn't know what gravity was? Or any of a trillion other things that we've learned as time passed on.

I don't know whether it's willful ignorance or what here but ****. If you guys don't give a shit about eagles, why don't you just say that?

I don't give a shit about eagles..

Sea gulls with a good marketing job..

 

[JohnB]

I'm willing to send a check to the charity of anyone's choice who can send me 3 video clips of them discovering a single lead pellet or bullet found in typical bald eagle habitat that produces feed for the eagles.

Here's your hero opportunity.

I've got no video proof but how about the eagle that snaked a chukkar I shot out from under me? I shot the bird and it rolled another 50 yards down the slope and a baldie nailed it and took off with it. That moment made me quite happy to be shooting steel and has made me do my best to stick with it even with the challenges I had finding shells last year.