Quote from: 1iagobblergetter on March 22, 2020, 08:47:48 PM
Quote from: g8rvet on March 22, 2020, 01:24:49 PM
I have had an Eagle swoop down and pick up a dead duck on the impoundment I hunt. We could not get to the bird fast enough. I think the odds of them picking up a lead slug on a deer is pretty darn slim. But in a duck in the old days, it would be pretty high.
Its not the lead slug,but supposed small lead fragments from the slugs or the deer runs off,ends up with lead poisoning,and the eagle eats it from what I've been told then it in turn has it.
You can have multiple encysted bullets in your tissue (like muscles and sinew) and you will never get lead poisoning. Elemental lead (like metal) is not toxic in and off itself. It is when it sits in the digestive tract and is bathed in enzymes of digestions that leads to the lead leaching ions into the blood stream and affects blood cells, neurologic system, etc. If it passes right on through in a few days, no worries for a few pellets. Lead paint, linoleum, lead dust from sinker manufacture, etc are already elemental.
What makes it especially dangerous for birds is the gizzard. It can sit in there and grind against the stones and pebbles they eat (or other lead) and this is a very efficient way to shed the lead into their system. Deep diving ducks in non-moving water can pick it up from the lake bottom when feeding - Canvasbacks and Blue Bills are deep feeders on mollusks on the bottom of the pond. Shallow sifters like Shovelers can pick it up in shallow wetlands (along with other shore birds). Any shot birds could pass it to higher predators like owls and eagles.
Agree it is much worse in the young due to developing brain.
