Lead is a highly toxic substance to humans, and apparently also to bald eagles. The Raptor Center at the University of Minnesota sees around 125 eagles a year, and has found that 80% of these have high levels of lead. Each year, 20 eagles die of lead poisoning. Raptor Center veterinary resident Luis Cruz-Martinez is citing hunters use of lead bullets as the culprit.

When fall hunting season rolls around, eagles are found to have an increased level of lead in their bloodstream. Cruz-Martinez speculates that the cause stems from eagles dining on the carcasses hunters leave behind, which often are tainted with lead ammunition. “Most of the birds that we see here are unable to stand, they are unable to fly and they are gasping for air,” says Cruz-Martinez, stating it doesn't take much lead to kill an eagle, and even less to cause severe respiratory or neurological damage.

Cruz-Martinez's study links the increase in lead to hunters, but stresses the findings presented are not to be taken as anti-hunter. “We’re not against hunters,” Cruz-Martinez said. “Many of us who are working on this are hunters," But many hunters seem unwilling to use non-lead bullets, either for economical or traditional reasons. “Hunters are a very tradition-minded group,” says Cruz-Martinez. “They typically don’t like to see change,"

Does anyone else see the political irony in this? Hunters unwilling to change are literally killing America. This whole story is just rife with symbolism, and I sure hope some snarky liberal arts major with a college blog makes some sort of comment about it.