Winter has a myriad of meanings to us. For some, it means the holidays; for some, it means time to catch up on good books. Others, however, are excited at the crisp fall weather because it means hunting season.
By Kim Doner
As a wildlife rehabilitator, I’d like to share a personal perspective on hunting. True hunters are responsible and oftentimes conservationists. They take care of their guns, they follow all safety procedures, they maintain properlicensing, and they eat what they kill. It is a sport but also puts food on their tables.
Those who take out animal lives for the sole purpose of entertainment are killers, and that’s an entirely different story. It’s also not the story I’m here to discuss. So, back to hunters…
Aftertaking office last year, one of the first changes Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke made was to undo the orderfor phasing out the use of lead in ammunition and fishing tackle on government lands.
The policy, created to stop the pointless destruction of wildlife caused through hunting and fishing, had led to a 34 percent reduction in primary and secondary lead poisoning in animals. Many may not realize it, but one lead pellet lodged under the skin of a bird will kill it; one lead pellet ingested by a goose, bass or bullfrog will trigger the cascade of brain damage, then organ failure, blindness, intestinal paralysis and, ultimately, death.
When an animal is shot, bullet fragments can lodge in the muscles around the entry. Deer shot with lead bullets can have high lead levels even after professional processing of the meat. Those levels are found in sausage, steaks and ground venison. A warning: there is no safe lead exposure level for humans, not to mention wildlife or pets.
Leaded lures can be ingested by fish, bullfrogs, ducks and geese. Their deaths are painful, but priorto dying, their symptomatic behavior often attracts predators like bobcats or hawks. Secondary poisoning is rampant from lead: opossums, raccoons and many other omnivores eat carrion (the decaying flesh of dead animals). Eagles, vultures and crows will share the toxicity. Once they die, the cycle continues as their flesh retains the lead to be ingested by the next scavenger.
There are plenty of alternatives to lead ammunition, all shown to be equally effective for hunters. At this point in the game, there is no reason to use leaded ammo for hunting or angling. None.
During the winter months, eagles in particular need protection. Beginning in early December, the bald eagles that reside along the Arkansas River have established aeries, and by late January, hatchlings might be observed. They are the first of the area raptors to breed, but the rest will follow suit as the months pass.
Considering harsh winter weather often makes food in short supply, eagles will scrounge forfish and carrion—another compelling reason to remove lead from hunting and fishing supplies. Affected birds will appear drunk as they fly or perch with hanging heads and dulled responses. Roughly 90 percent of the bald eagles admitted to facilities have elevated lead residues in their blood; a fourth of them will be euthanized.
If caught soon enough, a skilled veterinarian may be able to save the bird through fluids, hand feeding, as low-stress an environment as possible, and chelation therapy. Chelation is a series of intramuscular injections given twice daily for several days, then stopped to allow lead stored in organs and bone to surface in the blood. The chelation medication binds with lead, and the kidneys excrete it. The process is repeated for several weeks. It’s extremely hard on the bird, not to mention meeting the rest of its needs, and many do notrecoverregardless of the efforts made.
Such needless suffering and expense is shameful. It’s also preventable. But how do we get others to care? Constant rants on Facebook seldom do any good.
How about the real thing? Experiencing raptors up close, witnessing the focus of theirgaze, discovering they can boast up to 400 PPSI (pounds per square inch) of strength in their talons’ grip, then seeing those long knives on the ends of their toes—it can be pretty awesome.
Beaks and talons are dangerous, even for the most skilled handler. Here, a rehabilitated wild bald eagle is about to be released over Keystone dam.A peregrine falcon has an eye for the camera
A few years ago, our county game warden, Carlos Gomez, called with an emergency. A bald eagle was down and cornered by dogs near 71st and Riverside. I met other rehabilitators there, where we netted him and, with great care, transported him to Forest Trails Animal Hospital.
Veterinarian Paul Welch met us there to find a bullet had gone through the bird’s wing. This animal was lucky; there were no broken bones, just mangled flesh—meaning a lot of pain but also hope. After treatment, federal papers were filed, and the bird recuperated at Grey Snow Eagle House’s sanctuary, an amazing facility managed by the Iowa tribe south of Perkins, Oklahoma.
Within months, he healed and was released with great fanfare over Lake Keystone. This story has a rare happy ending; the bird soared up and overthe water, easily clearing the lake to settle into a tree a mile away.
He got to go home. Most don’t. I am guessing, though, that in writing this article, I may be preaching to the choir. People who pick up animal-oriented magazines are usually passionate about their pets, if not critters in general. So, I’m going to suggest a not-so-subtle way to reach those who are less-than-caring about the results of sloppy sportsmanship or out-and-out federal offenses.
Bring them with you to experience live birds.
On Saturday, Jan. 26, Tulsa Audubon Society is hosting Eagle Watch and Raptor Rally. It’s free to the public. Eagle Watch will begin at 8 a.m. on the Jenks Pedestrian Bridge. Audubon members will be on hand with binoculars to share, so all ages can discover where the birds have built homes for their future offspring. There may even be fuzzy, little heads bouncing just above the aerie ridges by then!
At 9 a.m., attendees are encouraged to continue inside Jenks High School, where there will be two tracks offered: one for kids, one for adults. Presenters from Grey Snow Eagle House, Sutton Avian Research Center, the Tulsa Zoo, and Tulsa Audubon will share information aboutraptors. The best part: you will be able to easily view the educational birds they bring. The species varies every year, depending on what bird is best suited that day for an audience.
Ever stood within a few feet of an adult raptor, or been eye-to-eye with a peregrine falcon, or stared down by a great horned owl, or seen the wing expanse when an eagle fully extends in a stretch? Here’s your chance.
The early Saturday morning chill may be daunting in January, but there are more ways than one to get the lead out. ■
