Wash. biologist hazes swans away from deadly lead
November 29th, 2008 in Biology /
Wildlife biologist Mike Smith stands on a small boat on Judson Lake as he talks about scaring away trumpeter swans that try to land there Nov. 18, 2008, near Sumas, Wash. Years of collecting dead carcasses and examining lead-poisoned livers have convinced Smith of this: to save Pacific Coast trumpeter swans, he has to haze them. When trumpeter swans started dying by the hundreds in recent years, scientists traced the problem to the shallow 100-acre Judson Lake that straddles the U.S.-Canadian border 15 miles east of Blaine, Wash. Lead shots have been banned for waterfowl hunting since 1991. But wildlife scientists believe the long-necked swans were swallowing shots, along with food and grit, from the muddy bottoms of lakes and wetlands. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)
(AP) -- Years of collecting dead carcasses and examining lead-poisoned livers have convinced Mike Smith of this: to save Pacific Coast trumpeter swans, he has to haze them.
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"Wash. biologist hazes swans away from deadly lead." November 29th, 2008. http://www.physorg.com/news147161597.html