05-02-2012, 11:26 PM
If you want to read a real scientific study of lead from shooting, read this one:
http://leadammunitiongroup.co.uk/pdf/Fer...%20Quy.pdf
Even though they basically do the same thing as the ultra amateur 152 feather study from condors in South America, they do admit throughout the paper that no real differences in toxicity were evident between non-shot and shot areas.
I could go on and on with the key points of a highly-detailed study such as this one. I suggest reading the "conclusions" first, and absorb what is said. Then go back and study the data if you wish. The whole thing is filled with "maybes", "possibly's", extremely large error margins, and even admissions that the studies are inconclusive, with no measurable differences in animal mortality. They also mention "suffering" experienced by birds who have been poisoned.
I'll tell you about birds suffering. When I have shot ducks with bizmuth, they don't go down, and continue to fly on. That is animal cruelty in my book, but I was limited by the local regulations when in those hunting trips. The only duck I saw downed was done illegally by my cousin, who used lead shot. We ate it, and it was a great meal, but only one duck harvested after a week of hunting them.
On top of that, the duck population was so scarce, thanks to our communist environmental activist useful idiot eco-terrorists, who released thousands upon thousands of farmed minks from their cages. (This was in Finland, where there are over 188,000 lakes.) The results were devastating for not only duck populations, but every other mamillian species except for one particular toad, which minks can't stand due to its horrid taste. They find duk nests, and every other bird nest on the ground, as well as in trees, and devour them like it was candy at Halloween. They even attack domestic animals and children. These releases have occurred in the UK & Sweden a well.
This whole subjet has nothing to do with conservationism and environmental protection, and everything to do with attacking firearms ownership via regulatory and economic warfare, to achieve the end goal of disarmament. It really is that simple, and if you choose to believe otherwise, you're fooling yourself.
http://leadammunitiongroup.co.uk/pdf/Fer...%20Quy.pdf
Even though they basically do the same thing as the ultra amateur 152 feather study from condors in South America, they do admit throughout the paper that no real differences in toxicity were evident between non-shot and shot areas.
Quote:Overall, it was found that the bioavailability of lead in soils from both shot and non-shot sites was very low although higher in the shooting areas. Lead movement from soil water to higher trophic levels was minor and lead concentrations in biota were below statutory levels in all locations.
Quote:The study showed that despite a high deposition of lead pellets, the pellets remained relatively inert.
Quote:The effectiveness of the different methods for detecting ingested pellets has been evaluated. Visual examination missed 24% of ingested pellets because small, eroded pellets could not be distinguished from seeds and grit; X-rays of intact gizzards missed 28% of ingested pellets as they failed to detect small pellets obscured by grit, food and the muscular wall of the gizzard (study cited by [118]). Visual examination of grit in 3,389 mallard gizzards found ingested pellets in 6.3%, with the rate rising to 7.9% when grit samples were X-rayed and then to 8.2% when food samples that had been separated from the grit were also X-rayed [3]. The incidence of shot-in pellets was considered high enough (5.8% in 13,246 mallards) to influence interpretation of data if such pellets were not properly identified.
Quote:In a recent (2006) study on condors in California, a
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background level of 3.75 μg/dl blood lead was used, substantially lower than the previous criterion [23]. The higher level was established when environmental lead exposures were greater than they are now and before there was widespread recognition of the precautions necessary to avoid sample lead contamination during collection, processing, and analysis.
Quote:Use of wet weights can produce sizeable errors as the degree of drying can be difficult to quantify and it has been recommended that drying to constant weight is necessary to produce reliable data [1]. An approximate conversion factor is 1 μg/g wet weight = 3-4 μg/g dry weight [96].
I could go on and on with the key points of a highly-detailed study such as this one. I suggest reading the "conclusions" first, and absorb what is said. Then go back and study the data if you wish. The whole thing is filled with "maybes", "possibly's", extremely large error margins, and even admissions that the studies are inconclusive, with no measurable differences in animal mortality. They also mention "suffering" experienced by birds who have been poisoned.
I'll tell you about birds suffering. When I have shot ducks with bizmuth, they don't go down, and continue to fly on. That is animal cruelty in my book, but I was limited by the local regulations when in those hunting trips. The only duck I saw downed was done illegally by my cousin, who used lead shot. We ate it, and it was a great meal, but only one duck harvested after a week of hunting them.
On top of that, the duck population was so scarce, thanks to our communist environmental activist useful idiot eco-terrorists, who released thousands upon thousands of farmed minks from their cages. (This was in Finland, where there are over 188,000 lakes.) The results were devastating for not only duck populations, but every other mamillian species except for one particular toad, which minks can't stand due to its horrid taste. They find duk nests, and every other bird nest on the ground, as well as in trees, and devour them like it was candy at Halloween. They even attack domestic animals and children. These releases have occurred in the UK & Sweden a well.
This whole subjet has nothing to do with conservationism and environmental protection, and everything to do with attacking firearms ownership via regulatory and economic warfare, to achieve the end goal of disarmament. It really is that simple, and if you choose to believe otherwise, you're fooling yourself.