We really need input from the experts on this newest threat to wildlife and
habitat. How should we respond?

Airsoft pellet guns may replace paintballs as the ammunition of choice for
weekend war games. Places like the Illahee wildlife preserve are now
littered with thise multicolored, 6 mm diameter pellets by war gamers who
are trampling the
forest understory. It seems at the very least that they should be required
to use biodegradeable pellets that don't so closely resemble natural food.
Will birds mistake these pellets for edible berries? We don't know. But we
do need to pay attention to this potential
threat to our wildlife and their habitat.

Surprisingly, there didn't seem to be much response on Tweeters to Doug's
previous inquiry about Airsoft pellets. Perhaps, the pellets are so new we
don't have much information yet about their effects on wildlife and habitat.
Gene Bullock
Conservation Chair
Kitsap Audubon

----- Original Message -----
*From:* Doug Hudson <mailto:dhudson at silverlink.net>
*To:* Tweeters at u.washington.edu <mailto:Tweeters at u.washington.edu>
*Sent:* Friday, August 03, 2007 2:07 PM
*Subject:* [Tweeters] Airsoft (sic) pellets and birds

I was recently contacted by a concerned citizen about what is called
Airsoft. Airsoft is a war game in which people arm themselves with
firearms, mines, and other forms of munitions, all of which shoot or
disperse small pellets. The person who asked about airsoft gave me a
small collection of airsoft pellets he had collected at a local
woodland
preserve. He indicated there are pellets all over the place and there
is considerable damage to many of the plants in the under story where
the players were running after each other. The pellets he gave me are
plastic and are about 5 to 6mm in diameter. They are red, orange, two
shades of green, and white. All except the white pellets look for all
the world like huckleberries. The white pellets resemble some form of
eggs (slugs or insects???) I have seen in the woods. All could be
mistaken for food and eaten by birds.

I am wondering if others have knowledge of this activity? Are records
of dead birds full of small plastic pellets? At the very least this is
a form of environmental pollution.

Here are two links to airsoft web pages:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airsoft
http://www.madbullairsoftcom/English/
<http://www.madbullairsoft.com/English/>

The wiki is just info about airsoft. The 2nd link is to a retail
outlet
of airsoft products. On the left are links to their products. There
are 4,000 round bags of pellets, 22 pellet shot shells, land mines,
etc.
The wiki page indicates biodegradable ammo is available. The folks
who left the pellets in our local forest were using plastic. A Google
on airsoft will take you to many other web pages and retailers.

This is new to me. Have others heard about airsoft and is there any
movement to ban or control this activity except in approved locations?

Douglas Hudson
dhudson at silverlink.net <mailto:dhudson at silverlink.net>
Bremerton, WA