September 2, 2010 at 2:20 pm
[caption id="attachment_410" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="A radiograph of a common loon showing a lead sinker (the brightest white object) in its gizzard. Photo courtesy of Avian Haven."]
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One of my not-so-glamorous duties as a wildlife biologist in our agency’s Bird Group is to collect dead loons and send them to the Tufts School of Veterinary Medicine’s Wildlife Clinic to be necropsied (a necropsy is an autopsy of a wild animal). Dr. Mark Pokras and his students determine the cause of death as part of an ongoing study, and then let me know so I can inform the concerned citizen who originally notified me or a coworker of the dead loon. I just finished cataloguing, bagging, and freezing 2 loon chicks and 5 adults. With the help of Avian Haven, a wild bird rehabilitation facility in Freedom, we were able to get radiographs of a few adults – 2 individuals showed obvious lead sinkers in their gizzards. These were both adults, most likely breeding adults, that were otherwise healthy. A sad twist of fate presented them a lead sinker instead of an ordinary stone to add to the numerous stones already in their gizzard used for grinding food. It doesn’t take much lead to cause lead poisoning, and death is only a few days away.
Loons are not the only wildlife species susceptible to lead poisoning from discarded lead fishing tackle. Any wildlife that eats fish or feeds off the bottom of wetlands, ponds, or lakes, is susceptible. This of course includes great blue herons and many other colonial wading birds…thus the reason I am posting this topic on this blog.
But, I do have some good news. There is a program happening right now, right here in Maine that is offering FREE non-lead fishing tackle in exchange for YOUR lead tackle. Read the news release below and find a participating Soil & Water Conservation District near you to help make a difference in our favorite fish-eaters’ lives! Thank you.
~~~~~~~~~
ANGLERS!
Its time to swap out that old lead fishing tackle – for free!
Announcing the Soil and Water Conservation District Lead Fishing Tackle Exchange Program 2010
In partnership with the Maine Outdoor Heritage Fund
Why not lead?
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One of my not-so-glamorous duties as a wildlife biologist in our agency’s Bird Group is to collect dead loons and send them to the Tufts School of Veterinary Medicine’s Wildlife Clinic to be necropsied (a necropsy is an autopsy of a wild animal). Dr. Mark Pokras and his students determine the cause of death as part of an ongoing study, and then let me know so I can inform the concerned citizen who originally notified me or a coworker of the dead loon. I just finished cataloguing, bagging, and freezing 2 loon chicks and 5 adults. With the help of Avian Haven, a wild bird rehabilitation facility in Freedom, we were able to get radiographs of a few adults – 2 individuals showed obvious lead sinkers in their gizzards. These were both adults, most likely breeding adults, that were otherwise healthy. A sad twist of fate presented them a lead sinker instead of an ordinary stone to add to the numerous stones already in their gizzard used for grinding food. It doesn’t take much lead to cause lead poisoning, and death is only a few days away.
Loons are not the only wildlife species susceptible to lead poisoning from discarded lead fishing tackle. Any wildlife that eats fish or feeds off the bottom of wetlands, ponds, or lakes, is susceptible. This of course includes great blue herons and many other colonial wading birds…thus the reason I am posting this topic on this blog.
But, I do have some good news. There is a program happening right now, right here in Maine that is offering FREE non-lead fishing tackle in exchange for YOUR lead tackle. Read the news release below and find a participating Soil & Water Conservation District near you to help make a difference in our favorite fish-eaters’ lives! Thank you.
~~~~~~~~~
ANGLERS!
Its time to swap out that old lead fishing tackle – for free!
Announcing the Soil and Water Conservation District Lead Fishing Tackle Exchange Program 2010
In partnership with the Maine Outdoor Heritage Fund
Why not lead?
- Lead has been known for centuries to be toxic – to humans and wildlife alike.
- Angling and other outdoor sports deposit thousands of tons of lead into the environment each year.
- Lead ingestion is a death sentence for Maine’s loons, other water birds, and even the raptors, such as bald eagles, that may feed on these water birds. Water birds ingest lead when foraging on lake bottoms for the gravel they require or from feeding on fish attached to lead fishing gear. As the lead sinker or jig is exposed to the pebbles in the gizzard and acids of the stomach, lead enters the bird's system and slowly poisons the bird.
- Children are particularly susceptible to lead absorption. Children handling lead sinkers and jigs are at risk of lead poisoning.