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Thread: What? Lead poisoning of bald eagles has increased since lead shot was outlawed?

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    Default What? Lead poisoning of bald eagles has increased since lead shot was outlawed?

    So I got into a discussion with someone on "Carolina Birders" facebook page. It started with someone posting a link to a story about "Bald eagles are federally protected, but experts said they're dying from lead poisoning from the lead found in hunter's bullets on the North Carolina coast."

    It was a pretty civil back-and-forth but it led to the other guy, trying to make a point, posted the link below...


    https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication...25UmWfRjsyAPs4

    From the article...emphasis was mine...

    The proportion of lead poisoning diagnoses for bald eagles submitted to the National Wildlife Health Center displayed a statistically significant increase in all flyways after the autumn 1991 ban on the use of lead shot for waterfowl hunting. Thus, lead poisoning was a significant cause of mortality in our necropsied eagles, suggesting a continued need to evaluate the trade-offs of lead ammunition for use on game other than waterfowl versus the impacts of lead on wildlife populations.
    Even with this the enviros still want to continue to ban lead shot and now lead bullets...even when their own science disagrees with them...
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    Was the nontoxic waterfowl shot mandate put in place originally to help eagles or ducks? I'd imagine that we'll be all nontoxic ammo for everything eventually.

    Somewhat related/unrelated. A whistling duck in FL's gizzard with 17 pellets in it.
    Capture.JPG

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    Eagles are scavengers so they are probably picking up lead from carcasses or parts there of. I routinely throw away shot up meat. After recovering a few bullets from game over the years and weighing them I discovered that that lead has to go somewhere. Most likely into the carcass. I can't think of any other sources of lead in the wild. Many use all copper bullets (Barnes) and that may not be a bad thing except that copper will kill hell out of a tree.
    "We have become so open minded that our brains have fallen out"

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    Quote Originally Posted by WNM View Post
    Was the nontoxic waterfowl shot mandate put in place originally to help eagles or ducks? I'd imagine that we'll be all nontoxic ammo for everything eventually.
    The ban on using lead shot for web-footed birds was, no doubt, put into place to protect waterfowl and I'm sure the tree duck in the picture wouldn't have survived if those were lead pellets. I have, a long time ago, complained about the efficacy of steel shot but not the switch away from lead shot. It just amazes me that lead poisoning of eagles increased after lead shot was banned...I just don't understand that. The real point was that even when science says the opposite, the left continues to try to bully their perceived opponents into smaller and smaller boxes.
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    I feel like birds would shit the steel or lead pellets right out.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Rubberhead* View Post
    The ban on using lead shot for web-footed birds was, no doubt, put into place to protect waterfowl and I'm sure the tree duck in the picture wouldn't have survived if those were lead pellets. I have, a long time ago, complained about the efficacy of steel shot but not the switch away from lead shot. It just amazes me that lead poisoning of eagles increased after lead shot was banned...I just don't understand that. The real point was that even when science says the opposite, the left continues to try to bully their perceived opponents into smaller and smaller boxes.
    nah....they will make up their own science and then tell you to believe in science....see global warming
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    Does Elton John know you have his shotgun?

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    Quote Originally Posted by Sportin' Woodies View Post
    I feel like birds would .. the steel or lead pellets right out.
    Their bodies think the pellets are stones so they stay in the gizzard and are used to grind up their food. It basically smears a fine lead coating over everything they eat. If birds didn't have gizzard, lead poisoning would be much of a problem.
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    Quote Originally Posted by Rubberhead* View Post
    The ban on using lead shot for web-footed birds was, no doubt, put into place to protect waterfowl and I'm sure the tree duck in the picture wouldn't have survived if those were lead pellets. I have, a long time ago, complained about the efficacy of steel shot but not the switch away from lead shot. It just amazes me that lead poisoning of eagles increased after lead shot was banned...I just don't understand that. The real point was that even when science says the opposite, the left continues to try to bully their perceived opponents into smaller and smaller boxes.
    Your last sentence is spot on.

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    Its from fish and not a direct pathway in my opine.. Further thanks for the Copper Monos they kill, simply fantastic.
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    I was told by a USFWS biologist in 1999 that Lead shot intoxication kills a fraction (he said less than 10%) of what steel shot cripples. And he mentioned the ammunition lobby and basic margins of goods
    “The price of freedom is eternal vigilance” - Thomas Jefferson

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    Could the lead poisoning in eagles have spiked due to an increase in upland hunting? I know some states have switched to non toxic for that as well but I feel like most haven’t. So could those birds be having more of an affect on that spike than the decrease from waterfowl?

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    Could the higher number of poisoned eagles simply a result of the higher total number of eagles? Is the higher number in the study expressed as a percentage of the total population or just raw number of reported poisonings reported? Either way, something has changed that has drastically helped eagle survival.

    Not too many years ago, seeing a bald eagle in SC was a rare event, very rare. Now, I see them pretty regularly. One hangs out near one of my ponds.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Palmetto Bug View Post
    Could the higher number of poisoned eagles simply a result of the higher total number of eagles? Is the higher number in the study expressed as a percentage of the total population or just raw number of reported poisonings reported? Either way, something has changed that has drastically helped eagle survival.

    Not too many years ago, seeing a bald eagle in SC was a rare event, very rare. Now, I see them pretty regularly. One hangs out near one of my ponds.
    Yeah if I'm not mistaken they've been removed from the endangered species list. They are thriving everywhere. So you're logic is sound, but again the folks pushing this narrative are unfortunately not interested in logic or science.

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    Worrying about what most twatbearded wildlife biologists think or don't isn't worthy of your time...

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    The lead is not coming from hunters, but hunters are an easy target to knock off the list....

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    twatbearded*

    Noted and stored.

    Thanks
    Be proactive about improving public waterfowl habitat in South Carolina. It's not going to happen by itself, and our help is needed. We have the potential to winter thousands of waterfowl on public grounds if we fight for it.

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    Glorified buzzards,not very high on my care list.

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    If only Ben Franklin had gotten his way...

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    Quote Originally Posted by BOGSTER View Post
    twatbearded*

    Noted and stored.

    Thanks
    I remember my mother innocently saying years ago in reference to goatie styled beards, "I just don't understand why a man would cut his beard so that his mouth looked like a vagina."

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    Lead is banned for fishing in Massachusetts. I lived up there for a couple of years and didn't know the regulation until someone mentioned it to me on the river once.

    Lead Sinkers, Lead Weights, and Lead Jigs Weighing Less Than an Ounce. Any sinker or weight made from lead that weighs less than 1 ounce, and any lead jig (meaning any lead-weighted hook) that weighs less than 1 ounce, is prohibited for use in all inland waters of the Commonwealth. The term lead sinker shall not include any other sinkers, weights, fishing lures or fishing tackle including, but not limited to, artificial lures, hooks, weighted flies, and lead-core or other weighted fishing lines.

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