[Newsbot]

Title: Is lead from shotgun pellets poisoning B.C.'s swans?
Category: Environmental
Posted By: Hyack
Date: 2009-01-26 00:32:08
Canadian

[Heavy_Metal]

I was under the impression led shot was not being sold anymore for this very reason. Or maybe that's only in Ontario (?)

[BartSimpson]

Oh, please.

[ziggy]

I dont think you can buy lead shot anymore.

[ridenrain]

I think their dying because of global warming.

[ziggy]

In all fairness I used to take my stevens semi auto gas eject 22 calibre out and shoot a carton of shells at a time at gophers out on the prarie along with my friends.Thats ten boxes of shells and a lot of lead put into the ground when there was ten of us wiping out gopher villages.

That couldnt have been good for the environment.

[hwacker]

ziggy ziggy:

In all fairness I used to take my stevens semi auto gas eject 22 calibre out and shoot a carton of shells at a time at gophers out on the prarie along with my friends.Thats ten boxes of shells and a lot of lead put into the ground when there was ten of us wiping out gopher villages.

That couldnt have been good for the environment.

no, but think about all the sinkers that are at the bottom of the lakes and rivers from fishing.

[Nuggets]

Quote from the posted article:

$1:

So is the lead shot coming from the lake bottom, left over from the days before the lead shot ban?

Or are the swans collecting the poisonous pellets as they forage in the fields where lead shot is still legal to use?

I watched W5's documentary about it this week, and video reports on the current news. There have been over 150 dead swans found there just this winter. I watched the autopsies being performed on them and their gizzards were full of lead pellets that had been ground down to soft sludge preventing any other food to go through their systems. Basically they're starving to death. The documentary showed the swans dredging up lead pellets from the lake as well as eating them in the fields.

If you get a chance to watch the W5 documentary it's a real eye-opener. A very sad situation.