Random Pictures Thread

Wildthings said:
But almost all duck hunting is now done with steel shot. So out goes that theory
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The article mentioned fish too but I don't think there's many fish that have swallow the split shot. It also mentioned regular rifle bullets that splintered on impact and eagles fed on the carcass ingesting the bullet shards. I don't know how long lead poisoning stays in their systems either. I assume as long as the lead pellets or lead shards are in there, lead will be leaching into their bodies. There was a photo of an xray accompanying the article that showed white dots they said were lead pellets in the digestive tract of an eagle. I don't doubt that happens but 60% seemed like a unrealistically high figure. When California condors populations dropped precipitously they attributed it to drinking water from glycol (anitfreeze) tainted puddles along with lead. When peregrine falcons dropped, they said it was DDT causing the eggs to be too fragile to survive.
 
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DDT was the main reasoning behind eagle numbers dropping (egg shells). It has for sure created many issues over time for many animals. As for the x-rays, the pellets should pass just like stones. The issue is more with growing birds, lead is incorporated into the bone building if in the system. Having a bunch of pellets show in an x-ray is very rare, to the point that it might need to be staged or it was shot. Much of the shot used in a load fails to enter the target. Most sheet off or are lodged in the skin, a few penetrate and the rest scatter about the ground as fallout. Often it takes just a single pellet to pierce an eye, ear canal or throat to cause the catalyst for death. The 60% might be a localized thing where they feed them lead infested meat. I'd bet the real numbers are closer to 0.6-6%.
 
Back when we were using lead for duck hunting, at a few of the places I hunted, Texas Parks and Wildlife would ask if they could pull the gizzard from your harvest. Almost everybody would agree to. They opened quite a few to search for lead. The biggest percentage of the gizzards had numerous pellets in them. They were spent pellets that fell into the marsh and the feeding ducks would find and ingest them like they do gravel. It would affect them on their northbound migration
 
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Up north(Bemidji,MN) snowmobiling with the wife for a few days. Oops lost the trail!!! That was the first time. Parts of the trails are along road ditch and it has drifted pretty bad,enough that you can’t see where the trail is in some spots. Still beats working.

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So beautiful!! And sunshine.

I did a double-take:
The little guy with big pants in front, he wants to Go!
 
This scene reminds me of NYC back in the 80’s. This is at the cusp of Canal St. (Chinatown) into the Lower East Side- looking down Division Street/Ludlow. You can see a silhouette of the New World Trade Center in the background. If we had to rewind back in the 80’s, the Twin Towers would have stood there back in the back ground…….

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My new truck is ready for delivery, finally.
 
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