DN2 Autopsy Report

We received a final autopsy report on DN2. The eaglet died as a result of Methomyl toxicity, although caffeine was also present. An analysis of DN2’s liver ruled out lead and mercury as the cause of death. It did not include information on the sex of the eaglet.

What is Methomyl?
Methomyl is a broad spectrum insecticide introduced in 1966 to kill a variety of insect pests. It is registered for commercial/professional use on sites including field, vegetable, and orchard crops; sod farms; livestock quarters; commercial premises; and refuse containers. It is toxic enough that products containing more than 1% Methomyl are not available for homeowner or non-professional application.

How were DN2 and Mom North poisoned?
While we don’t know for sure, Methomyl is sometimes used off-label to kill wildlife species that become problematic. 1% Methomyl products including Golden Malrin, Lurectron Scatterbait, and Stimukil are placed in sweet solutions, including caffeinated colas, to poison animals like raccoon that some consider pests and can cause damage to buildings and farm animals. Given the presence of both Methomyl and caffeine, it seems likely that Mom North found a Methomyl-poisoned dying or dead mammal and brought it to the nest to eat. It wouldn’t have taken much to kill DN2 or Mom North, since Methomyl is highly toxic.  Based on what we observed, Mom North was able to metabolize and recover from what she ate, but DN2 was not. While it is possible that the poisoning was the unintended consequence of a legal use of Methomyl, the caffeine suggests it was not.

For more about the problems of baiting wildlife with Methomyl, follow this link: http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/02/regulators-move-limit-wildlife-deaths-misuse-deadly-fly-killer

Is this legal?
It is not. While Methomyl and many other pesticides and insecticides are legal when used in a manner consistent with labeling, it is illegal to go off-label and use them in a manner for which they are not intended. Fly bait is legal when used according to direction and illegal used in any other way. There may be state and federal penalties for people caught misusing it, depending on state and federal law, and what species are killed.

What are you going to do about it?
We have already reported the incident to the Iowa State DNR and the US Fish and Wildlife Service, and will report it to the EPA and the manufacturer of the most likely culprit, Golden Malrin. We will also use our RRP website, Facebook and Twitter audience to help spread the message about misuse of Methomyl and let people know that they can petition their states to reclassify Methomyl fly baits as restricted products should they choose to do so. We would love to say that this was an isolated incident, but a quick search for “golden malrin raccoon” reveals just how widespread the practice is. Google it and join the discussion!

Do you know who did it?
No. There is a lot of variability in eagle home ranges. While immediate nest defense/core territories tend to occur within 100 square meters or so of the nest, hunting territories vary considerably.  One study documented bald eagle summer home ranges that varied from 3 square miles to 18 square miles depending on age, nesting status, and available resources. But other studies have found even wider ranges in nesting bald eagles, including 37 square miles for a pair in Louisiana. The landowners in the immediate vicinity of the nest have expressed their commitment to conservation.  With bald eagles searching and scavenging for food over a large area, there is no way to know exactly where it cam from. We are not an enforcement agency, but we have reported what we know to enforcement agencies.

We don’t believe that anyone meant DN2 or Mom North any harm. But people need to know that off-label poisoning kills unintended targets and can have serious legal consequences. We don’t believe that anyone meant DN2 or Mom North any harm. But people need to know that off-label poisoning kills unintended targets and can have serious legal consequences. This may also be a good day to check garages, basements, and storage sheds to see what noxious and toxic herbicides, rodenticides, and insecticides are on hand that have tragic consequences for wildlife, pets, and humans. Want something to replace those highly toxic chemicals? Check out the Bio-Integral Resource Center (http://www.birc.org/) and their list of least-toxic pest control products: http://www.birc.org/2012Directory.pdf. Even if you can't go completely toxin-free, you can reduce harmful consequences by using products correctly and choosing the least toxic option. You can help by sharing and spreading the word to prevent the unintentional killings of bald eagles and other animals.

Note that Methomyl is toxic enough that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Methomyl manufacturers have agreed to limit use on certain crops to reduce risks to drinking water: http://bit.ly/29yhNcY. EPA and manufacturers have also reached an agreement to stop making and selling some fly bait products and to add information to the label that clarifies the approved uses. EPA believes that these changes will reduce the illegal use of methomyl fly bait products which can kill wildlife, an issue that was reported to EPA by a number of states.

Are you an academic studying this issue? Please contact us by emailing amy@raptorresource.org.

Intervention at Decorah North Nest

As watchers at the Decorah North Nest know, female eagle Mom North brought some tainted prey into the nest on the afternoon of May 25th. She fed DN2, who promptly died, and ate some herself. Until we shut the cams off, horrified watchers saw a very sick Mom North struggling in the nest.

Neil Rettig and veterinarian Laura Johnson monitored the nest through a private channel. As the night passed, Mom North began to recover from whatever the prey had been tainted with. After she flew off the nest on the morning of May 26th, we knew we needed to make a plan to recover DN2. We wanted to autopsy the eaglet to determine the poisoning agent and prevent Mom from feeding DN2 to DN1 and killing DN1 as well.

The morning started with a call to Kike Arnal, who had climbed into the north nest last fall. Like Neil, he expressed some concern about going into the nest itself and recommended that we try to recover DN2's body with a hook or catchpole. Fortunately, Neil was available to climb. Several of us are versed in rope technique, but the North Nest is very tricky to access and Neil is the only one of us with tree spike experience, which he used to avoid potentially injuring the eagles with a crossbow bolt or line. While Neil, Laura, and Dave Kester made a plan, Amy Ries got busy working on the permit side of things.

Bald eagles are protected by a number of laws, including the Bald and Golden Eagle Act, the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, and the Lacey Act (introduced in 1900 by an Iowa congressman). It is highly illegal to trespass on an active bald or golden eagle nest or take, possess, sell, purchase, barter, transport, or export or import any bald or golden eagle, alive or dead, including any part, nest, or egg. The penalties are severe and may include a fine of $250,000 or two years of imprisonment, which is doubled for an organization. Should we be found to have broken the Bald and Golden Eagle Act, we could also lose our banding permits, which would end our banding program. While these laws may seem harsh, they have been an important part of returning the bald eagle to the American landscape, and we had no intention whatsoever of running afoul of them.

Amy contacted Deanne Endrizzi from the US Fish and Wildlife Service, and Pat Schlarbaum and Bruce Ehresman from the Iowa DNR. She explained the situation and outlined our plan. We would recover DN2 without going into the nest and take the body to Iowa State University's College of Veterinary Medicine for autopsy. The Iowa State DNR and the US Fish and Wildlife Service approved our plan very quickly and we were able to recover DN2's body yesterday afternoon. It is on its way to Iowa State University now. We don't know how long it will take for the results to come back.

Parent in tree

Dave retrieving DN2 from the catchpole

Why did you intervene?
We usually don't intervene in nest life. Wild birds survive and thrive in the presence of things that seem frightening and even awful to human watchers, including bad weather, predators, injuries, and aggression. Although humans found the death of DN3 appalling, it was completely normal eagle behavior. But poisoning is not nature taking its course and all parties agreed that intervention was appropriate and allowable in this case.

What happens next?
We are continuing to monitor the nest remotely, but the camera will remain off for live viewing for the time being. Mom has been in the nest with DN1, who has been fed and looks like a healthy, alert young eagle.

DN1 in the nest on the morning of May 27, 2016. 

Thanks to Neil Rettig, Dr. Laura Johnson, Dave Kester, Kike Arnal, John Howe, Deanne Endrizzi, Bruce Ehresman, Pat Schlarbaum, Allamakee county conservation officer Burt Walters, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Dr. Steve Ensley, and Iowa State University's College of Veterinary Medicine for their quick action and help. Your advice and experience were invaluable!

We've had some requests for the last video shot from the nest before we turned it off. This video shows an ill Mom in the nest, as well as DN2. If you find it disturbing to watch, please do not follow the link. I witnessed the event and found it very disturbing: https://youtu.be/g4ZC72FurzE