This year, my brother blessed the family with bear meat during his second season hunt. This was a beautiful, healthy bear with a gorgeous coat. While my family was processing the meat, we were distressed to find many shotgun pellets in his back legs and butt. Surprisingly, the pellets went through his beautiful, thick coat, through four to five inches of fat and were imbedded in his muscle.
Unfortunately, we found that we didn’t get all the pellets out of the meat and now are concerned about lead poisoning. What a waste of meat and life because someone used a shotgun to scare a bear away!
I was glad to see the story headlined “The unintended consequences of lead bullets” (Herald, Oct. 16) that explained the dangers of lead exposure to children and wildlife. I was amazed to read that levels of lead in the blood of children whose families consumed at least one wild game meal per week showed a 5 percent increase in blood-lead levels compared with the general population. Also discussed was the near extinction of the California Condor and how it is attributable to lead poisoning from the condors feeding on carrion with lead pellets or bullets in them left by hunters.
We’ve all heard of the dangers of lead paint. Lead is a cumulative toxicant that affects multiple body systems, including the neurologic, hematologic, gastrointestinal, cardiovascular and renal systems. Children are particularly vulnerable to the neurotoxic effects of lead, and even relatively low levels of exposure can cause serious and, in some cases, irreversible neurological damage.
Using steel or copper bullets is an easy way to eliminate your contribution to that source of lead into our food web. For families in our community and the health of our wildlife, please join me in using nonlead ammunition and in requesting that ammunition companies produce viable and cost-effective nonlead ammunition.
Please also bear-proof your property, so you’re not tempted to use a shotgun on a bear. Visit www.bearsmartdurango.org for great information about the responsibilities we have living in bear country.
Sarah Jacobson
Durango
