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this post was submitted on 21 Feb 2026
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You can use steel shot
The US banned lead birdshot in 1991. Are they eating squirrels?
Eagles will eat just about anything they physically can so probably lots of squirrels, rabbits, smaller possums and raccoons but also eagles will sometimes eat carrion so I could certainly imagine they sometimes get this off something like a deer carcass.
I was trying to think of what is getting shot with lead but still getting away. I just spent however long reading about wound rates for deer. Which is low, but yeah. One thing I wonder is if it has anything to do with the amount of fish they would be eating. No other north American raptor eats fish like bald eagles do that I can think of.
I mentioned above that varmints are often shot with lead bullets and left in the field, however fishermen use lead sinkers that fish and ducks ingest then eagles eat them. Eagles are extremely sensitive to lead poisoning and other poisons like DDT. There is a push to change that with alternative less toxic materials.
It’s lead shot California condors went extinct in the wild because of lead poisoning from birdshot but they bred some in captivity and reintroduced them.
I thought that was due to johnny cash
IIRC, some bald eagles were found with neurological issues caused by nicotine from cigarette butts too.
People still use lead target shells all the time
Ungulates and rodents, mostly.
Birdshot is only banned for migratory bird hunting. Many landowners shoot woodchucks with rifles because they dig holes that livestock step in and break their legs, also the holes cause problems with equipment - they most often use lead bullets and leave the carcasses for the wildlife to dispose of. Some have switched to green ammunition but few have. We need to raise awareness for the need to switch to non-toxic ammunition. Maybe a bill that subsidies green ammunition with a small tax on lead ammunition could help.