On the first Earth Day, in 1970, a cartoon poster
created by Walt Kelly, appeared at rallies in all 50 states. It showed a rueful
(Pogo) opossum picking up papers, bottles, cans, wrappers—the detritus of
modern life. Superimposed on the image were the words. “WE HAVE MET THE ENEMY
AND HE IS US”. We had scheduled a litter clean-up of our adopted section of
scenic highway 200 for the weekend but ITD has issued cancellation and postponement
of all voluntary activities.
If you are seeking something lighter, read “he who
plants a tree” or watch the leave it to
beaver 1950’s television series which showcases the poem. There is one
episode where the youngest member of the family demonstrates that it is
possible to love something other than human beings and does not understand why
the grownups question his logic.
If you are seeking reflection from the pragmatic
side of many wildlife rehabilitators across the nation and globe, a direct quote
from a Bonner County licensed rehabilitation professional - Two intake eagles
from this weekend. One died already, the other will as well. Blood lead levels
are irreversible and incompatible with life 😢.
The national wildlife rehabilitators association
created a statement on lead toxicity in 2015. It reads in part “Lead is toxic
to living organisms. There is no safe level of lead exposure for humans or
wildlife. Studies have found that more than 130 species, including mammals,
birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish, are affected by lead toxicity. Lead
ammunition is banned completely in Denmark, Netherlands, and Sweden and in
waterfowl hunting specifically in fourteen countries including the US and
Canada. Lead fishing tackle is banned completely in Denmark and some fishing
tackle regulations exist in the UK, Canada, and in 6 US states. Waterfowl mortality due to lead toxicity
declined after the implementation of Canadian and US bans on lead shot for
wetland gamebirds.” A bird hanging
upside down as if it were a bat is a sign of significant life threatening
problems.
Regulations of lead based ammunition have taken
place around the world. Dominique Avery and Richard Watson of the Peregrine
Fund in Boise Idaho have written an article detailing their findings. The US is
at the bottom of that list regarding how it is protecting not only the wild
animals affected by lead ammunition including the Bald Eagle, our national
symbol but also American citizens!
The American
Bird Conservancy website showcases an article by Jeff Miller from the Center
for Biological Diversity informs us all that “Lead has been known to be highly toxic for more than
2,000 years. Its use in water pipes, cosmetics, pottery and food is suspected
as a major contributing factor in the collapse of the Roman Empire. Lead causes
numerous pathological effects on living organisms, from acute, paralytic
poisoning and seizures to subtle, long-term mental impairment, miscarriage,
neurological damage, and impotence. Even low levels of lead can impair
biological functions. There may be no safe level of lead in the body tissues of
fetuses and young. Despite knowledge of how dangerous lead is, it continues to
be used in hunting and fishing products that expose wildlife and humans to
lead. In recent decades the federal government has implemented regulations to
reduce human lead exposure in drinking water, batteries, paint, gasoline, toys,
toxic dumps, wheel balancing weights, and shooting ranges. Because there are
now numerous, commercially available, non-toxic alternatives, the petitioning
groups are urging the EPA to develop regulations to require non-lead rifle
bullets, shotgun pellets, and fishing weights and lures throughout the nation.
Non-toxic steel, copper, and alloy bullets and non-lead fishing tackle are
readily available in all 50 states. Hunters and anglers in states and areas
that have restrictions or have already banned lead have made successful
transitions to hunting with non-toxic bullets and fishing with non-toxic
tackle. Over a dozen manufacturers of bullets have designed and now market many
varieties of non-lead, nontoxic bullets and shot with satisfactory to superior
ballistic characteristics – fully replacing the old lead projectiles. The Toxic
Substances Control Act gives the EPA broad authority to regulate chemical
substances that present an unreasonable risk of injury to health or the
environment, such as lead. The EPA can prohibit the manufacture, processing,
and distribution in commerce of lead for shot, bullets, and fishing sinkers.
“It's long past time do something about this deadly
– and preventable – epidemic of lead poisoning in the wild,” said Jeff Miller
of the Center for Biological Diversity. “Over the past several decades we've
wisely taken steps to get lead out of our gasoline, paint, water pipes and
other sources that are dangerous to people. Now it's time to get the lead out
of hunting and fishing sports to save wildlife from needless poisoning.”
An estimated 10 million to 20 million birds and
other animals die each year from lead poisoning in the United States. This
occurs when animals scavenge on carcasses shot and contaminated with lead
bullet fragments, or pick up and eat spent lead-shot pellets or lost fishing
weights, mistaking them for food or grit. Some animals die a painful death from
lead poisoning while others suffer for years from its debilitating effects. For a poignant look read Katie Fallon’s book “Vulture: The
Private Life of an Unloved Bird.”
“The science on this issue is massive in breadth and
unimpeachable in its integrity,” said George Fenwick, president of American
Bird Conservancy. “Hundreds of peer-reviewed studies show continued lead
poisoning of large numbers of birds and other animals, and this petition is a
prudent step to safeguard wildlife and reduce unacceptable human health risks.”
At least
75 wild bird species are poisoned by spent lead ammunition, including bald
eagles, golden eagles, ravens and endangered California condors. Despite being
banned in 1992 for hunting waterfowl, spent lead shotgun pellets continue to be
frequently ingested by swans, cranes, ducks, geese, loons and other waterfowl.
These birds also consume lead-based fishing tackle lost in lakes and rivers,
often with deadly consequences.
Lead ammunition
also poses health risks to people. Lead bullets explode and fragment into
minute particles in shot game and can spread throughout meat that humans eat.
Studies using radiographs show that numerous, imperceptible, dust-sized
particles of lead can infect meat up to a foot and a half away from the bullet
wound, causing a greater health risk to humans who consume lead-shot game than
previously thought. A recent study found that up to 87 percent of cooked game
killed by lead ammunition can contain unsafe levels of lead. State health agencies
have had to recall venison donated to feed the hungry because of lead
contamination from lead bullet fragments. Nearly 10 million hunters, their families
and low-income beneficiaries of venison donations may be at risk.”
View the entire article with this link. abcbirds.org/article/national-ban-on-lead-based-ammunition-fishing-tackle-sought-to-end-wildlife-poisoning-lead-still-a-potent-killer-of-millions-of-wild-birds-health-risk-for-humans/
Do
not misinterpret this article or try to pick and choose statements to fit a
personal agenda.
Being active and recreating in our natural world is what we
all should enjoy. It keeps us connected and grounded! Humans are not here to
have domination over this planet; we are here to share this space with all our neighbors
and ensure there are sufficient resources for future generations.
J. Minick in his November 2018 article
in the New York Times explains it like this:
In
many ways, hunters are the staunchest conservationists. We understand deer
populations and forest dynamics. We spend time outside observing. We support
wildlife conservation through hundreds of millions of dollars in license fees. So
why do we poison the very places and animals we love?
The doubters
argue that there’s only a little bit of lead in a bullet. The truth is roughly
90 percent of the 9 billion bullets manufactured each year are made partly of
lead. Veterinarians know, though, that it takes only a little bit of lead to
poison an eagle, vulture or raven. As Ms. Fallon writes, “A lead fragment as
small as a grain of rice can be fatal to a bald eagle.” These birds clean up
the carcasses or the remains of the animals we kill. And so, we often condemn
them to a slow demise.
In the wild,
a bird’s death is in secret, but when a sick bird arrives at a rescue center,
the pain is revealed. Lead poisoning first causes lethargy and weakness. Birds
fail to fly or can do so only briefly. The weakness becomes more distinct — the
birds can’t hold their necks straight or tuck their wings or call as they once
did. They become crippled by severe appetite reduction, losing fat and muscle
mass, so much so that the central bone of their ribs can protrude — what is called
“hatchet breast.” Their digestion becomes so ruined that food sits inside their
esophagus. When poisoning is fatal, near the end, they become paralyzed,
comatose after muscle convulsion.
Occasionally
these birds ingest large amounts of lead and die quickly, but usually they die
slow deaths, the lead taking two to four weeks, or even 15 weeks, to kill. And
then more eagles and vultures come along to eat the carcasses and also become
poisoned.
A bird can
eat a sublethal amount of lead but easily be killed by the resulting weakness.
It can’t fly or hunt as well, causing broken wings and other injuries.
Sometimes veterinarians can treat lead-poisoned birds, but often they have
little success. As Milton Friend, the former director of the federal National Wildlife Health Center, warned in 1989 in the “Waterfowl Management Handbook,” “The use of nontoxic shot is
the only long-term solution for significantly reducing migratory bird losses
from lead poisoning.”
Heeding this
and other warnings, in 1991 the federal government imposed a ban on all lands
nationwide on the use of lead shot for waterfowl hunting after studies found
widespread poisoning of ducks. A study
of the ban’s effectiveness
several years later found that it had prevented the premature deaths of
millions of waterfowl.
American Bird Conservancy, Center for Biological
Diversity, Association of Avian Veterinarians, Public Employees for
Environmental Responsibility, and the hunters' group Project Gutpile are asking
for the ban under the Toxic Substances Control Act, which regulates dangerous
chemicals in the United States.
I am asking you now, please take a moment to reflect
on your habitat requirements. All life (two legged, four legged, feathered,
scaled, skinned, or exoskeleton) need seven components to live. And all life
needs each other. Live simply to that others may simply live.
“It was a spring
without voices. On the mornings that had once throbbed with the dawn chorus of
robins, catbirds, doves, jays, wrens, and scores of other bird voices there was
now no sound; only silence over the fields and woods and marsh.” - “A Fable for Tomorrow” from Rachel Carson’s
Silent Spring 1962
Please consider giving to American Heritage Wildlife
Foundation especially during the #idahogives campaign April 23 through May 7th.
When you give, they have a chance to live. We are 100 % community supported
with volunteers and funding. Your
support is keeping #idahowild. Thank you.
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