I mentioned above that varmints are often shot with lead bullets and left in the field, however fishermen use lead sinkers that fish and ducks ingest then eagles eat them. Eagles are extremely sensitive to lead poisoning and other poisons like DDT. There is a push to change that with alternative less toxic materials.
Comment on Littering 🚯
SillyDude@lemmy.zip 5 days agoI 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.
rayyy@piefed.social 5 days ago
Formfiller@lemmy.world 5 days 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.