Hello,
I have never hunted game, but have enjoyed target shooting with pistol, rifle and bow. I must say, I’m not a bad markswoman.
One thing I have gleaned from those who hunt responsibly is they want to eat food they bagged and they have great respect for wildlife, the continuation of their love for natural beauty and toxin free plentiful game.
I have always been a conservationist, a lover of nature. Most of my outings as a child were in nature, either mountains or beach, some desert. I also lived through the times of DDT miracle cure for mosquitos, malathion, lead based paint, gas station giveaways and low price wars, asbestos pajamas and the list goes on and on. Somehow I survived without getting cancer, rattlesnake or shark bitten.
The last 20 years I discovered kayaking. One day I was kayaking on a lake, separated from the group a little out of sight from them. I always loved looking around for what type of bird or any other sights that others might miss. I heard a sound in the sky. I was familiar with hawk calls, this was different. I looked up and saw a bald eagle and said to myself out loud- no kidding — it’s a bald fucking eagle!
So, what I have been doing during the pandemic is watching Bald Eagle Cams, mostly in Channel Islands, but there are hundreds of them. Some international Eagle Cams, California Condor Cams, Bear Cams, Puppy and kitten cams… but I digress.
I had gone with a friend in Colorado to see the bald eagle nest at Standley Lake. It was the outing of the day for our visit with friends. We marveled at the pair and saw a dark figure in the nest from a respectful distance. It was amazing. That was in the 90’s and the bald eagles (and Condors) were still not recovered. I confess, I have little knowledge about California Condors, as to why they were/are endangered species. I imagine it’s the same as bald eagles’ disappearance from the Channel Islands. They once thrived there, but DDT in the food chain caused their shells to break and reproduction of bald eagles ground to a halt.
The particular area of the Channel Islands is off the coast of So. California. If you ever get a thirst for Native lore in the Santa Barbara area Chumash, it is so interesting.
Back in the day, it was less recognized the amount of damage one company could do, but they were supposed to be regulated. The Montrose Chemical Company in Torrance, CA was one of the largest manufacturers of DDT in the 40’s-50’s and discharged waste into the system which led to a discharge pipe at White Point Beach, according to the Montrose Settlement data.
Well, readers can follow the links above and below to find out more on the particulars, but there’s a documentary about it with old video of kids and adults gleefully swimming in a pool with a truck dispensing DDT clouds into the crowd as a celebration of killing mosquitos.
So, I’ve learned a lot more about the plight of bald eagles, peregrine falcons and other endangered wildlife, some of which can only be found in the Channel Islands, foxes, scrub jays endemic to those particular areas.
I watched the eagle nest cams in Decorah, Iowa occasionally, too. There was a nest of triplets that hatched there in the 2020 season, deep in pandemic shutdown. I will give a shout out to Iowa and surrounding area, the Raptor Resource Project. So much info there, too. I particularly weave this in here as 2 of those 3 were fitted with GPS to track their movements and study more about them.
Here comes one story as evidence for my post today. One of the triplets was “named” D35 and both D36 and D35 were being tracked and stories written, data compiled about them and another D27. January 2021 D35 stopped moving near the Iowa River. A board member named Brett went to look, probably aware of what he’d find. The temperature was too low and not moving. He found D35 lifeless, but looking otherwise uninjured, no evidence of being shot or starving, which does happen.
Necropsy of D35 revealed lead buckshot upon imaging with X-ray. Tiny pieces of lead ingested by an otherwise thriving bald eagle juvenile caused lead poisoning. The link above shows the x-ray of D35 and reported cause of death, lead poisoning. Bald eagles and all raptors can and do swallow bones, so of course lead is also swallowed with the flesh of dead animals. Bald eagles are not simply majestic creatures who target a fish from vast heights and swoop down and grab a salmon or trout in their talons. They eat road kill and left behind carcasses of deer, pig, birds, *rodents, etc. I saw one next to a highway standing on a deer that was hit by a car, presumably.
It sometimes happens naturally, apparently the survival rate the first year for bald eagles is about 50%. The good news is my favorite Eagle Cams are in the Channel Islands and there was a long list of named eaglets for 2021. Institute for Wildlife Studies was begun from Montrose Settlement for Channel Islands wildlife affected by dumping DDT, PCBs. (hint, the funds are gone, but now run from donation click IWS and find donations) Yes- there are currently many barrels of DDT which were dumped there on the ocean floor near Catalina Island.
Eagle cameras 2021- Channel Islands. I watched 2 eaglets and many parental efforts at 2 different nests hatch, quickly grow, be fed, get the feel of their wings and talons, how to use them under the watchful eyes of their parents, then fledge. The very favorite (3rd- the 4th pair moved to off cam nest) nest of mine at West End (Catalina) has a couple of challenges. The male who displaced the experienced and successful father with the magnificent mother is inexperienced and only turned 5, the age of maturity. Still having some brown speckles on his head was telling. Last season was even worse (debatable) as they had 2 clutches taken by ravens. The male was totally clueless in 2020 and the first round of eggs were quickly taken, then the second. The male would leave the nest while the female was out far away and could not protect. She laid another clutch, same thing happened. 2020 was not a great year.
Only one fledgling on camera at Two Harbors, Catalina, but what a joy to see the whole cycle was a success. 2021 for the inexperienced male was much better until nearly hatch time, the male saw the female, misinterpreted that was sign for him to go. Ravens predated all 3 of the eggs and the female returned to zero eggs, which is a very hard thing to watch, but humans may be helping the ravens population increase by leaving trash.
The good news (we need some) is there is Alternatives to Lead Awareness outreach. Hunters can even find demonstrations, research and do something to help reduce lead poisoning of raptors, particularly the revered bald eagle.
* Rodenticide is another horrific cause of secondary poisoning, namely anticoagulant which passes into the scavenger or hunter from the targeted species. I’ve argued with people online about this. The person insisted when he does it (he advocated for people to call him) that never happens and he posted comments rebutting the use of poisons are fine) because if you do it right (close off exits(?) they die under the house or in the attic. Well, for one, who wants dead rodents and poison in and under their house- and for two, who believes the mice or rats cannot escape before death? Others chimed in saying, my cat died from eating a poisoned rodent. My neighbors had chickens and ivy. I found a dead rat in my yard far away from their house.
People need to understand that what we do has effects on others and nature. We can hopefully work to regulate the rodenticides and show folks, we are not telling you you can't hunt. We want you to stop using lead. It happened with paint, it happens with water, etc Too late? We need to be wiser in our activities and take things into consideration about consequences of our actions. Alternatives are available, we need to inform folks about all of this.