Get the lead out
Port Morien Wildlife Association receives eagle to teach public about dangers of lead bullets and fishing gear
The eagle has landed with the Port Morien Wildlife Association.
Member Jeff MacNeil said their club has received the carcass of an eagle from the Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources. MacNeil said he and members Stan Peach and David Ferguson worked for a year researching a way to get approval for this venture and get the paperwork done.
“Our club put a year’s work in going through policies and regulations to see if it would even be plausible to get one,” he said.
“We are the permanent caretakers of this. Although DNR gave it to us, they are the owners. If our club would ever go under or fold, it would go back to them. We have it in our possession now and it’s at the taxidermist.”
MacNeil said the eagle will be used for educational purposes, including going into schools and teaching children about the bald eagle. However, he said the eagle will also be taken to outdoor shows and trade shows across the province to educate hunters, non-hunters and people who fish about the effects
of lead bullets and weights on wildlife.
“When a hunter kills a moose with a lead bullets, some of the guts of the moose are left behind,” he said, “and then if eaten by an eagle, the eagle will end up with lead poisoning and could die.”
He said having this display will strike more of an emotional chord in the public during their presentations.
“Although this eagle died accidentally lead does play a huge part in taking the life of some of these majestic animals,” he said.
“We’re not trying to beat up on the hunters as we are hunters ourselves. But if it saves an eagle, it saves an eagle. That’s how we see it.”
He said at a recent meeting of the Nova Scotia Federation of Hunters and Anglers their club put a resolution forward for a three-year trial on hunting moose in the Cape Breton Highlands with non-lead bullets.
“The voting delegates from across the province voted unanimously on our resolution for the change.”
He said it will now go before government.
“We are asking for a trial so we can see how many eagles are affected and not affected during this time.”
He said the eagle is at First Class Taxidermy in Antigonish and they expect to have it back within a year.
MacNeil said he has also spoken to officials from a Mi’kmaq community.
“When we get it back we will be taking to them for a blessing before it is taken to trade shows or schools.”
MacNeil recently visited the Cobequid Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre run by Dr. Helen Van Doninck and said there are seven eagles there now being treated for lead poisoning.
Van Doninck has delivered presentations on the impacts of lead shot, bullets and fishing tackle, and discusses non-lead alternatives for both hunters and anglers.
Peach said using the eagle in
“These children are the next generation of up and coming hunters and fishers. It’s important to learn about lead in your ecosystem. Lead in anything is dangerous and it’s showing up more and more.”
Stan Peach , member of the Port Morien Wildlife Association
schools will be an equally important step.
“These children are the next generation of up and coming hunters and fishers,” he said.
“It’s important to learn about lead in your ecosystem. Lead in anything is dangerous and it’s showing up more and more.”
He said the work Van Doninck is doing at the Cobequid Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre is amazing.
“It is really incredible what she is doing there.”
He said the association’s eagle hasn’t been named yet. He plans to talk to the association but one idea is turning to the children in the schools.
Terry Power, biologist with the Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources, said the department issued a salvage permit to the Port Morien Wildlife Association to have a bald eagle made into a taxidermy mount and the director of wildlife issued the association an educational permit enabling the association to use the taxidermy mount for educational purposes.
Power said this is not the first time an educational permit for a mounted bald eagle has been issued to a non-profit, but it’s not a common occurrence.
“Many eagle carcasses have been released over the years to the Mi’kmaq community for religious and ceremonial purposes.”
Power said this particular eagle died from electrocution and was found in Cape Breton County beneath a power line
“It’ a common cause of death for eagles recovered by DNR over the years.”
Power said there are at least 175 eagle nests that they know of in Cape Breton so there are 175 breeding pairs on the island in any given year.
“Those are the ones we are aware of. There could be more than that in addition to the non-breeding pairs as well,” he said.
Power said lead does affect wildlife.
“It’s clear lead is toxic when it’s consumed by predatory animals. I think it’s fair to say that’s true. “