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submitted 4 months ago by fossilesque@mander.xyz to c/science_memes@mander.xyz

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[-] ArgentRaven@lemmy.world 37 points 4 months ago

The overwhelming majority of bullets are used against paper or steel targets. Most hunters take the entire carcass for butchering, so the eagles aren't eating lead from animals shot and left in the wilderness. And given the volume needed, I wouldn't be surprised that they're eating fragments fired at steel targets that they mistake for rocks to keep in their stomach to grind up food.

[-] zxqwas@lemmy.world 31 points 4 months ago

Don't know what they do over there, but we usually get the lungs and guts out as soon as possible in order to keep the meat from spoiling. Long lived predators that likes to scavenge can develop lead poisoning from those remains if it's their main source of food.

If confusing with rocks was the main source you'd expect it to be just as common in other birds.

[-] Danquebec@sh.itjust.works 2 points 4 months ago

Does that mean hunters also eat lead?

[-] zxqwas@lemmy.world 4 points 4 months ago

You tend to be generous with what you discard because you don't want to eat lead.

I could only find one report where they measured Pb in blood. People who self reported eating game meat in Utah had 30% higher lead levels than people who did not.

[-] Catoblepas@piefed.blahaj.zone 11 points 4 months ago

This is untrue, gastroliths are associated only with birds that eat plants. They grind up food, which isn’t necessary for meat. Eagles eat bullets from animals that have either been shot and abandoned, lost, or had parts of them discarded as zqxwas pointed out.

this post was submitted on 21 Feb 2026

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