On Wed, 19 Jul 1995 Kelly Cassidy wrote:

( snip, snip )

:....... I always heard that ingestion
: of pellets is the big problem with lead shot. It is hard to
: imagine so much shot that a pond or lake would have a serious
: lead pollution problem. On the other hand, lead (being an element)
: can never break down into something else. It can only disappear
: by being washed out of a pound or buried in the sediment.

In years past I have been known to hunt ducks and geese ( I know, it's
blasphemy but I was young and foolish then ) in the Moses Lake area of eastern
Washington. I frequented an area to the south of I 90 and 3 or 4 miles west
of the city. This area was dry during the summer but flooded with rising
water behind the dam which resulted in a much larger lake and many seep
type pot holes. A great variety of water foul and shore birds are to be
found here all year round. It has been a prime hunting area for years.

In the fall the water level behind the dam is allowed to go up which results
in the flooding of the area to the north and west of the dam. A vast shallow
area is created with additional seep type pot holes. As the summer months
come on the area again drys out leaving the area with many pot hole ponds
in which all kinds of fish are trapped. The pot holes are also full of
crayfish, beetles, and other creatures many of which muck about in the silty
bottom until evaporation overtakes them and they die. Also many of the
fish are bottom feeders and they stir things up looking for food. As the
ponds dry up the birds can get at the exposed fish.

Do the crayfish, beetles, frogs, etc. take up any lead and do the bottom
feeding fish take up lead either directly or through eating the bottom
dwellers? Do birds take up lead by eating any of the above?

Not long ago there was a posting re. the drying out of the margins of lakes
and ponds and the effects of such drying on the decomposition of the bottom
silt. This takes place year after year in the Moses Lake area as well as
many other areas in the northwest. When the water evaporates the ph must
change effecting the lead. What are the implications?

It would be interesting to study these hunting areas in the early fall when
they are dry and see just how much lead there is and at what depth it is to
found. Also, much lead shot falls on the dry sand dunes. Do mice and other
creatures take up any lead? If so how about the owls, hawks, and other
birds that pray on the mice?

Gee, this is long and wordy for my first posting. It is also my first
attempt to use my off line mail reader to create a message and I am a
novice birder. I hope you folks will understand.

Doug Hudson, Bremerton, WA
dhudson at linknet.kitsap.lib.wa.us