Another witch hunt-lead bullets poisoning eagles!

[manyplews]

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pitt.../s_659655.html

"Lead poisoning increasing in state's growing eagle population
By Keith Gushard
THE MEADVILLE TRIBUNE
Monday, December 28, 2009

MEADVILLE — The death of a young patient, especially when it might have been avoided, frustrates Carol Holmgren. But her emotions soar like just like those she treats when a patient recovers.
Holmgren is an assistant wildlife rehabilitator at Tamarack Wildlife Rehabilitation & Education Center near Saegertown, Crawford County — the state's leading treatment center for rehabilitation of bald eagles, according to a recent survey.
In 2008, six bald eagles were treated at Tamarack, exceeding its previous record of five, set in 2007, Holmgren said. Three of the six eagles from 2008 recovered, but three died, she said.
Postmortem tests showed two of those that died had a toxic level of lead, Holmgren said. The third eagle that died was not tested, she said.
The rise in eagle admissions and concerns about lead toxicity caused Tamarack to survey the 21 Pennsylvania rehabilitation centers licensed to treat bald eagles, receiving responses from 18 of them, Holmgren said. Tamarack treated about half of the Pennsylvania eagles needing rehabilitation in 2007 and 2008, she said.
Holmgren said she and Sue DeArment, who heads Tamarack, believe lead poisoning poses a major problem. Bald eagles ingest lead when they eat waterfowl that have swallowed lead sinkers or old lead shot from the bottom of ponds; eat upland game animals that have been shot and left; or eat portions of deer discarded by hunters, but still contains lead shot.
Research from Iowa, Minnesota, and Nebraska where more lead testing has been done, indicates eagles admitted for trauma or starvation may have underlying lead poisoning, Holmgren said."

What's next? - A Kalifornia-type ban on all lead bullets in Pennsylvania ?

Is it possible that a lot of these bird groups want some publicity and taxpayer funded government grants?
As an old geezer who was born and raised on a farm,I have seen the immense negative impact on our small game populations,from banning the killing of great horned owls,Cooper's hawks,Sharpshinned hawks and Goshawks.
When I was a kid,we had enough natural reproduction of pheasants to provide good hunting in our area.Rabbits were very plentiful and our Thanksgiving day hunt always resulted in heavy game bags,even though our dog was just a farm collie.

[daschnoz]

Ok, lets see---

Bald eagles ingest lead when they:
1. eat waterfowl that have swallowed lead sinkers or old lead shot from the bottom of ponds.
2. eat upland game animals that have been shot and left.
3. eat portions of deer discarded by hunters, but still contains lead shot.

About the only argument that holds any weight is #2.

The lead shot factor in #1 has already been addressed. If it's still a problem in waterfowl, ban the use of lead in sinkers.

#3 is total bull crap. I don't know about you, but I don't use shot to kill a deer, I use a single bullet, and I don't leave any part of the deer in the field except the gut pile - which isn't of much interest to eagles anyway.

[Konsukah_19]

I was going to make a response...but I just cannot find the words...

[Sandcut]

#2 is definitely possible. #3 could occur occaisionally w/ deer that have been shot and got away. I personally have never seen a bald eagle eating a pheasant or a dead deer. That doesn't mean it couldn't happen. #1 I don't see happening. The steel shot regs have been around for 15-20 years now. Any lead shot in the environment should have been covered over and sequestered by sediment/muck years ago.

I also find it odd that they are reporting this only in bald eagles. I'd be interested to see what the rate of occurance was w/ Peregrine falcons and Turkey vultures. The falcons take waterfowl regularly and the vultures would feed on carrion more frequently. They would be your controls in the study. If they aren't showing evidence of lead toxicity, it's time to seek your source elsewhere, like, say, bioaccumulation from the great lakes.

I personally feel that this is something that we, as sportsmen, should take more seriously. Especially for threatened populations like the California Condor. With that said, it is all too conveniant for people to point fingers when they don't have the data to support their claim.

[max384]

Ok, lets see---

Bald eagles ingest lead when they:
1. eat waterfowl that have swallowed lead sinkers or old lead shot from the bottom of ponds.
2. eat upland game animals that have been shot and left.
3. eat portions of deer discarded by hunters, but still contains lead shot.

About the only argument that holds any weight is #2.

The lead shot factor in #1 has already been addressed. If it's still a problem in waterfowl, ban the use of lead in sinkers.

#3 is total bull crap. I don't know about you, but I don't use shot to kill a deer, I use a single bullet, and I don't leave any part of the deer in the field except the gut pile - which isn't of much interest to eagles anyway.

+1 Exactly.

[customloaded]

I guess people forget that lead, an element the last time I checked, is a natural occuring entity in nature. Who is to say that since Eagles eat alot of Fish, that the birds surveyed ate lots of fish who also had high level's of lead because of a deposit of lead? I mean hey, what a thought?

Lead shot has been banned since 1972 for waterfowl hunting in the US and Canada, not sure about Mexico. Many states have banned lead shot from use in upland game hunting.

Same with oil being leaked out of super tankers. Hello, oil is a natural occuring fluid. Billions of gallons of oil enter into the worlds oceans on a yearly basis from cracks in the earth's crust. Oh my, the world is falling apart!!!! Save the (insert animal here or cause).

This article is 100% bullshit and slanted toward anti hunting/2A, plain and simple.

Oh, one more thing to add, isn't the population of Eagles on the rise? If thats so, more Eagles would mean more being seen, sick, injured and therefore, an increase of those who receive care.
CL

[Tiadaghton44]

Eagles were removed off the endangered species list in June 2007. It is not a big deal anymore to see one around where I live. About 5 years ago I was watching a guy Trout fishing and a Bald Eagle swooped down and took a nice rainbow trout right in front. Mr. Fisherman was quite upset at the Eagle, his emotions were "soaring" like the eagle. I deal with these wildlife special interest groups all the time with my work. If there was a Red Squirrel injured by an SUV, these people would cry for hours if it died on the ER table. They talk to the trees and animals when joining us on project field veiws. If they ban lead, there will just be more banning after that. Do some research on Bioreserves in PA and you'll learn about the grand plan for our future.

[imashooter2]

The agenda is not to save eagles. The agenda is to make shooting more expensive, so less people will do it.

[West Chester]

NY state banned the sale of lead sinkers for fishing.

[bigandy1966]

Its an outright lie,
I can say I saw 15 dead white rhinos due to ingesting holly bush berries in West Chester and push for the ban on Holly berries when the entire story is a fairytale. There are no documented eagle deaths referenced. And how would they know exactly what killed the eagle? If the eagle is sick or injured did it die from that and just so happened to have a high level of lead, mercury and plutonium in its system? It had 2 broken wings and tire tracks on its skull, but since the good Dokter was against guns/hunting (by very nature of their proffesion ) she attributed the deaths to Lead. "But her emotions soar" and she throws science out the window.
HMMMM so much for science.