Here is some interesting reading more to the point for those having trouble connecting dots....
Scheuhammer, A.M., Rogers, C.A., Bond, D., 1999. Elevated lead
I googled this up and here is the abstract:
Abstract An initial survey of lead levels in American woodcock (Scolopax minor) from Wisconsin was conducted in 1998 using wing bones from hunter-donated woodcock. The results of this initial survey indicated that young-of-year woodcock were accumulating extremely high levels of lead in their bones. Similar collections were made (using steel shot) between 1999 and 2001. The combined results of this collection indicated that 43.4% of young-of-year woodcock (range 1.5–220.0 μg/g dry wt) and 70% of woodcock chicks (range 9.6–93.0 μg/g dry wt) had bone lead levels in the elevated range (>20 μg/g dry wt). Blood samples were collected from chicks at a site considered elevated based on bone lead results (Mead Wildlife Area) and a site considered background (Navarino Wildlife Area). These samples were analyzed for lead concentration and aminolevulinic acid dehydratase activity. The mean blood lead concentrations of woodcock chicks from both sites did not reach levels that are considered elevated in waterfowl (>0.200 μg/ml). However, blood lead concentrations of chicks from the Mead Wildlife Area were significantly higher than lead levels in chicks from Navarino Wildlife Area (p = 0.002). Although the ultimate sources of lead exposure for Wisconsin woodcock currently remain unidentified, anthropogenic sources cannot be ruled out. Our results indicate that elevated lead exposure in Wisconsin woodcock is common and begins shortly after hatch.I know of a study showing that urban pigeons had higher blood levels of lead than rural pigeons. Now how do we know what caused the elevated blood levels of any bird?
Flushing birds taken around a dove shooting hole have a much higher chance of ingesting lead than ones taken out in the prairie. If there is some loss of grouse, bobwhite, huns and pheasant to ingested lead shot what about to raptors, snakes, skunks, coyotes, bobcats, hunters, etc...
My bobwhite hunting grounds have been used for at least fifty years for this purpose. Same thing for dove hunting, primarily around a windmill and around a pond. I don't hesitate to eat my bobwhites, no matter where they come from on the lease
Even if lead shot injestion caused one percent of the eventually 100% of bird deaths so what?
The last time this subject came up on the board I went through several of the studies Grouse Guy posted and that were available on the internet. I found two where the bodies of dead wild birds were tested. The rest were rehashes of the earlier field
tests of where captive birds were fed lead shot and then analyzed.
Mike
