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Area swans dead from lead poisoning
Published Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Staff with the Department of Natural Resources say dead swans along the Otter Tail River are not cause for alarm, but part of a statewide trend in bird mortality.
Don Schultz is the area wildlife manager with the DNR’s Fergus Falls office and estimates fewer than 10 trumpeter swans were reported dead along the river this winter. Swan deaths may concern property owners accustomed to seeing the birds near homes or cabins, Schultz said, but the number of reports differs little from previous years.
“What we saw this year was no different from other years in that a few birds die here and there,” he said.
A major cause of swan deaths has long been lead poisoning, a phenomenon seen not only along the Otter Tail River but across the state. As Carroll Henderson of the DNR’s Nongame Wildlife Program explained, today’s trumpeter swans still suffer from the days before nontoxic shot.
“They still pick up expended lead shot on the bottoms of marshes or lakes where people may have hunted 50 to 80 years ago,” Henderson said.
Swans have been found at several locations along the Otter Tail River, Schultz said, with several wintering concentration sites from Rush Lake all the way to Fergus Falls.
In past years, the DNR has collected dead swans and tested them to determine the cause of their mortality. Yet the job of retrieving dead swans from open water or thin ice can be dangerous and costly, Schultz said, and with no new cause for concern, the DNR doesn’t plan to collect many more.
Nearly 500 swans winter along the Otter Tail River, the DNR reports, with the number of swans statewide totaling more than 2,000. This represents a vast improvement from the mid-1980s, when the DNR’s Trumpeter Swan Restoration Project began bringing birds from Alaska to settle in Minnesota.
Comments
The Daily Journal is happy to host community conversations about news and life in Fergus Falls and the surrounding area. As hosts, we expect guests will show respect for each other. That means we don't threaten or defame each other, and we keep conversations free of personal attacks. Witty is great. Abusive is not. If you think a post violates these standards, don't escalate the situation. Instead, flag the comment to alert us. We'll take action if necessary. It's not hard. This should be a place where people want to read and contribute -- a place for spirited exchanges of opinion. So those who persist with racist, defamatory or abusive postings risk losing the privilege to post at all.Posted by Newshound (anonymous) on April 15, 2008 at 3:26 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I would like to see unimpeachable PROOF that the swans are dying of "lead poisoning" AND that the lead is residue from hunting.
I do not disagree that lead is lethal to ANY animal that injests it but I feel-and have felt all along-that this unfortunate problem has been blown way out of proportion.
More ducks are killed in Mexican nets in one week than die of lead poisoning all year in Estados Unidos.
At all times remain calm.
Posted by Flashbang (anonymous) on April 15, 2008 at 5:07 p.m. (Suggest removal)
If there was a good example of a lake that could contribute to lead poisoning of wildlife it would be Pebble Lake. How many tons, yes tons of lead are in that lake from years of trap shooting? I haven't read about birds, ducks, swans, geese, dogs, cats or even rodents found on the shores of that lake because of lead poisoning. And to top it off, the swimming beach was and is right down the road. Makes you wonder if the City should reconsider dumping money and reopening the beach. I'd be more concerned about lead poisoning of people.
Posted by Gassy (anonymous) on April 15, 2008 at 8:56 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I totally agree. I think lead poisoning of these swans from lead shot is about as believeable as man made global warming.
Posted by DevoBill (anonymous) on April 15, 2008 at 10:56 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I was thinking Pebble Lake too. Does any one know how long the "lead problem" would remain if we banned lead shot now?
Posted by sametoyou (anonymous) on April 16, 2008 at 7:34 a.m. (Suggest removal)
It doesn't take much to get these Limbough heads going.You better get back to the fergus radio station. Don't want to miss any of his hate message stupidity.
Posted by ajohnsonx (anonymous) on April 16, 2008 at 8:27 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I was just curious about a few comments and wanted to inquire about what seems to be the "conspiracy theory" behind the dead swans. Some of your comments seem like there is a big cover up going on, and that the lead shot is being used as the decoy? Next headline: Fergus Falls admits cover up; Dead swans were really aliens..or were they?..............who cares
Posted by imjustagirl (anonymous) on April 16, 2008 at 2:02 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Does it really matter how they died? I think we need to focus on the real problem... Like all the little swans out there who lost there mommy or daddy. Next thing you know these little guys might start hanging out with the wrong crowd, get messed up in drugs and gun running. If we let the swans think these deaths were caused by humans, they may have retaliation on their mind. I think we need to stop all this talk of lead poisoning before the rest of the swans get word of it. Think of your children! I heard the swans were murdered by Canadians.
Posted by chipmunk (anonymous) on April 16, 2008 at 3:44 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Justagirl, it may be your “swans song” to accuse a Canadian of murder.
Posted by imjustagirl (anonymous) on April 16, 2008 at 3:59 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I hate accuse the innocent, so if any one can offer me "unimpeachable proof" that the Canadians indeed played no part in this vicious slaying, I will gladly retract my comment. Until then I stand firm in my belief that Canadian rebels snuck across the border with there cheap pharmaceuticals and poisoned these trusting birds.
Posted by Newshound (anonymous) on April 16, 2008 at 8:02 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Ah yes...the adolescents are now checking in. Don't you people have some sort of video game you can play?
Posted by freda (anonymous) on April 16, 2008 at 8:31 p.m. (Suggest removal)
What makes you think 'imjustagirl' is an adolescent? You are stereotyping her because of the name she chose. I bet it is the Canadian Geese that are doing the killings. Did anyone test them for the Bird Flu?
Posted by chipmunk (anonymous) on April 16, 2008 at 9:11 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I heard that the Fergus Falls CSI found traces of Canada Goose Feather particles around one of the swan carcass’s and an empty Molson can.
Posted by Vampire (anonymous) on April 16, 2008 at 9:39 p.m. (Suggest removal)
If this happened in Europe it would be treated with a little more serious consideration. For instance, two months ago dead swans were found in Great Britain and tested for bird flu. Here we would only test or consider bird flu after a few people die.
Posted by imjustagirl (anonymous) on April 17, 2008 at 12:52 p.m. (Suggest removal)
By the way "Chipmunk" the Molson can comment was histerical.
Posted by imjustagirl (anonymous) on April 17, 2008 at 12:53 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Adolescent???? I will have you know I am a full grown adult male "Newshound". You can't always go by the name itself. Besides "Newshound", what is a "shound" anyway and why would you need a "new" one?
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