Posted on 01/14/2022 2:46:39 PM PST by LibertyWoman
A new study finds bald eagle population is dropping due to them contracting lead poisoning
The birds eat organs left behind by hunters, which contain gunshot ammunition
Experts say other animals are feasting on the remains and are being poisoned
Bald eagles may have recovered from near extinction, but the birds are now at risk of another threat - lead poisoning.
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(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
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.
Exactly right. This SUDDENLY pops up? Lead has been coming OUT of ammunition for years, the population of hunters isn’t going up, and the number of harvested animals is going down.
This study doesn’t pass a rudimentary smell test. (and I’m not a hunter)
If wind turbine blades were made out of lead, you bet we’d hear about it.
Most states have no restrictions against lead shot when hunting upland birds. Only waterfowl hunters must use steel shot........
“Eagles scavenging deer killed by autos are a frequent sight in much of America.”
Well, there you have it. Here is my quick study of the situation:
1. Tetraethyl lead was first put into gasoline in 1923. Leaded gasoline was phased out 50 years later.
2. The lead accumulated in the roadside soil.
3. The roadkill deer bounce off cars and trucks, landing in the roadside soil, thereby picking up some of the accumulated lead.
4. Eagles eat the roadkill and die of lead poisoning.
Where do I send the bill for my study?
Right
“we estimated that deaths arising from ingestion of Pb was associated with a 4.2% (females) and 6.3% (males) reduction in the asymptotic long-term growth rate”
It’s that word “estimated” that sort of kills the science.
“I was under the impression that the lead poisoning is from fishing lead weights, which remain in the fish and then the fish are caught and consumed by the eagles.”
That is liberal BS too! Fish don’t eat lead weights, and for the most part, ducks don’t eat lead shot.
Plenty of Eagles near me. It’s a rare day that I don’t see at least one. (SW corner of Wisconsin, heading to The Mighty Mississippi.)
Study by Cornell University.
Well, Cornell has ZERO credibility. They are known as agenda-driven liars and fabricators of flawed science.
Have you even read the study? Not the newspaper article but the study itself?
And yea same to you? Have you read the study?
That’s just code for 1) you’re too lazy to read the study or 2) you don’t know how to refute the study findings.
Gun grabbers.
The flying pigs, otherwise known as bald eagles, are more common in Western WA than hawks. The affirmative action poultry.
Lead used in ammunition is not soluble. It can be ingested safely and does not get absorbed into the digester.
Eagles typically do not eat carrion when live food is readily available, putting another lie to the study.
Bans on lead ammunition are misguided and ineffective: Guest opinion
Most important FACT:
The five-year-old lead ammunition ban in the California condor region has proven ineffective. Despite a 99 percent compliance rate by hunters, researchers now admit that "lead exposures continue" and condor blood-levels have not dropped.
Thanks for the op-ed. I read.
That’s apparently more than can be said for you with the Cornell study.
And although anecdotal and not a focal species I study, I have observed on numerous occasions Bald Eagles eating carrion when other food sources such as salmon are available. Bald Eagles are opportunistic apex predators and their food sources are depending on a number of factors such as weather, availability and time of year.
There is a major contradiction between the headline and the first sentence. The head line says drop in population growth the lead says decline in population. Which is it? I t can’t be both. The headline is made to sound dire, but really it is not.
An actual decline in population is more alarming but the attributed cause is suspicious. The bald eagle population has been recovering for decades now. As a kid I remember going someplace where there was a nest and it was a rare sight to see. Now on occasion we will see them flying overhead when we aren’t even seeking them out. However I have a hard time believing that hunters are suddenly leaving so many more deer carcasses lying around with bullets in them that after years of recovery it is effecting the population.
Totally agree. The Midwest is chocked full of white headed dead fish eating vultures.
In Iowa, eagles seem to mostly feast on road kill, especially deer, and also on dead livestock from the ubiquitous livestock confinement buildings.
Hawks have also exploded in population.
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