Eagles will eat just about anything they physically can so probably lots of squirrels, rabbits, smaller possums and raccoons but also eagles will sometimes eat carrion so I could certainly imagine they sometimes get this off something like a deer carcass.
I was trying to think of what is getting shot with lead but still getting away. I just spent however long reading about wound rates for deer. Which is low, but yeah. One thing I wonder is if it has anything to do with the amount of fish they would be eating. No other north American raptor eats fish like bald eagles do that I can think of.
It’s lead shot California condors went extinct in the wild because of lead poisoning from birdshot but they bred some in captivity and reintroduced them.
SillyDude@lemmy.zip 9 hours ago
The US banned lead birdshot in 1991. Are they eating squirrels?
NoDignity@lemmy.world 9 hours ago
Eagles will eat just about anything they physically can so probably lots of squirrels, rabbits, smaller possums and raccoons but also eagles will sometimes eat carrion so I could certainly imagine they sometimes get this off something like a deer carcass.
percent@infosec.pub 6 hours ago
IIRC, some bald eagles were found with neurological issues caused by nicotine from cigarette butts too.
SillyDude@lemmy.zip 7 hours ago
I was trying to think of what is getting shot with lead but still getting away. I just spent however long reading about wound rates for deer. Which is low, but yeah. One thing I wonder is if it has anything to do with the amount of fish they would be eating. No other north American raptor eats fish like bald eagles do that I can think of.
Formfiller@lemmy.world 7 hours ago
It’s lead shot California condors went extinct in the wild because of lead poisoning from birdshot but they bred some in captivity and reintroduced them.
Formfiller@lemmy.world 7 hours ago
People still use lead target shells all the time