East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1919-09-19
WILD DUCKS DIE FROM
SWALLOWING SHOT THEY
. PICK UP FROM THE MUD
Lead is Bad for Fowls Even
When Taken Voluntarily /;
Intestinal Poisoning Results
so Experts Show.

Wild ducks and other waterfowl
sometimes die from lead poisoning,
resulting from swallowing stray shots
which they pick out of the mud about
shooting grounds. Many ducks that
become sick from lead poisoning final-
ly recover. but it is probable that the
effect is permanently injurious. not
only to the individual, but to the spe-
cies. 1t has been ascertained byex-
pertinent that lead greatly impairs
the virility of male-domestic fowls.
emales mated with them lay many
infertile eggs, while in many of the
eggs that are fertilized the embryo
dies in the shell or the chick emerges
weak and unable to withstand the
hardships of early life. What effect
lead poisoning has on female wild
fowl has not been definitely ascer-
tanned: but. as the fact is well known
that lead produces abortion in female
mammals, there is a possibility that it
exerts a bad effect on female water
fowl during the breeding season. Thus
the supply of waterfowl is likely to
be decreased by lead poisoning, not
only by the number of birds that die
directly from it. but indirectly by i'm
pairment OF reproduction.
These facts are set forth by the Uni
ted States Department of Agriculture
in Bulletin 1893, Lead Poisoning in
Waterfowl" about to be published
as contribution from the Bureau of
Biological Survey. Reports of water
fowl apparently sick from lead pois-
oning have been coming in for several
years. The Biological Survey under
took an investigation at various shoot
ing grounds to determine how COM
mon the taking of shot by waterfowl
is, and a series of experiments to
ascertain the effect of shot swallowed.
1t was found at places where much
shooting is regularly done from blinds
shot at the bottom of the shallow
water are so numerous that one or
more was found in practically every
sieveful of mu or silt, and that they
are swallowed by waterfowl when.
ever found, as a result of their habit
of swallowing small. hard objects to
supply grit for the gizzard.
The experiments have shown that
shot swallowed are gradually ground
away in the gizzard and pass into the
intestines producing a poisoning that
results in progressive paralysis and
usually death. Experiments with wild
waterfowl captured when young and
reared in captivity-to obviate the
possibility of their having taken lead
before the beginning of the expert
ments-have shown that six pellets
of No. shot constitute an amount
of lead that is always fatal. Two or
three shots were sufficient to cause
death in several instances. In one
experiment, two mallards were given
one No. shot each. One of them
died in nine days and the other was
able to throw off the poison.
The list of species known to have
been poisoned by eating shot consists
of malard, pintail, and canvas-b bach
ducks, the whistling swan, and the
marbled godwit. but many other
species, particularly of ducks and
geese, are undoubtedly affected by 1t.
according to the bulletin.
Unfortunately, nothing can be done
at this time to protect waterfowl
from lead poisoning except to call at
tention to the malady, and to make
known it's cause and symptoms. The
department, however. desires statistics
on the numbers and species of birds
affected and asks that sportsmen and
others report to the Bureau of Biolo-
gical Survey all cases that come to
their attention.