Organs left behind by hunters? I would think that most hunters butcher their game when they get it home. Besides, I thought eagles were birds of prey, not scavengers.
Eagles are indeed scavengers, and they’re exploding in population. Eagles scavenging deer killed by autos are a frequent sight in much of America.
In places with escaped domestic pigs, like Iowa, bald eagles seem exclusively scavengers, along with their deer victims.
Most hunters immediately gut the deer to cool it down quicker. Some also do it to get the two “tenders,” a pair of tasty little muscles inside the body cavity along both sides of the spine, kind of like filet mignon. Some hunters take the organs too, like the heart and liver.
Bald Eagles are both predator and scavenger. (They are also thieves.) They seldom turn down a free meal, but their diet is predominantly fish. While they do eat deer, it is usually roadkilled deer, which tends not to have lead in it. Fish, on the other hand, may be the real cause of ingested lead, due to the abundance of lead sinkers.
Most hunters immediately gut the deer to cool it down quicker. Some also do it to get the two “tenders,” a pair of tasty little muscles inside the body cavity along both sides of the spine, kind of like filet mignon. Some hunters take the organs too, like the heart and liver.
Bald Eagles are both predator and scavenger. (They are also thieves.) They seldom turn down a free meal, but their diet is predominantly fish. While they do eat deer, it is usually roadkilled deer, which tends not to have lead in it. Fish, on the other hand, may be the real cause of ingested lead, due to the abundance of lead sinkers.
Proper handling of game in the field is to cool the meat as quickly as possible. The process starts by opening the abdominal cavity in order to remove all the viscera contained there while also gaining additional surface area for cooling. Removal of the hide also helps cool the body but that process is often delayed until the carcass can be hung for easier handling.
The author wrongly claims that the field-dress remains/viscera are the source of retained lead ammunition consumed by eagles when they scavenge after the hunters remove the carcass. As other posters have pointed out, modern rifle ammunition just isn’t there to be consumed.
I saw plenty of eagles munching on roadkill in Montana.
Nope...just a different flavor of buzzard.
Most times hunters will field dress the deer where they kill - leaving the internal organs, blood and everything right there - makes for a lot less to carry out. And less mess.
You field dress the deer. There’s a “gut pile” left behind.
My husband saw a bald eagle and a wolf eating a dead dear yesterday.
“Organs left behind by hunters? I would think that most hunters butcher their game when they get it home.”
Depends on the hunter and on the game taken. For large game, most hunters generally field dress the kill on site, and leave the gut pile for scavengers (mostly coyotes). If the game is large enough, they may quarter it on site. It also lightens the load, making it easier to remove the kill from the field (or woods, etc.).
Bald eagles are basically scavengers. In parts of Alaska, there are so many of them, and they are such pests, locals consider them as bad as seagulls and crows. Pooping all over and causing a ruckus.
It's normal to gut them and leave the gut pile in the woods.....
Most hunters field-dress the deer before taking it home. This results in a gut-pile left behind.
And eagles are happy to scavenge if they can. It’s easier than hunting.
But, I suspect windmills are responsible for more eagle deaths than lead poisoning is.