Community Announcements on 8th Day Radio Show – August 17, 2019

Marquette, Michigan – August 17, 2019 – Following Announcements:

[First Aired August 17th]

Listen:

• Sunny.FM Media Player: ( 6 Min. mp3)
• Default Device Player: ( 6 Min. mp3)

• Bay Cliff Health Camp is now accepting applications for its Stroke Wellness Retreat September 12-16, 2019. This program is for individuals living in the Upper Peninsula who have survived a stroke and are living at home or in a nursing facility and are completed with any outpatient treatment or home-health care, as well as their caregivers.
• The Marquette Downtown Development Authority is collaborating with Third Base Bar to put on the third annual “Classic Cars on Third Street” car show on Saturday, August 17. The car show will commemorate Jessica Drummond, and all proceeds from this event will benefit the Women’s Center of Marquette County. The car show will take place on North Third Street, between Ohio and Park Street. Registration is just $5.The show takes place from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., with awards at 3:00 p.m. Those wishing to enter a classic car should enter the car show area from Washington Street, heading north on Third Street to the corner of Ohio and Third Street, where the Show area starts. For more information, please contact the MDDA office at (906) 228-9475.
• Another bald eagle with lead poisoning has been rescued by the Chocolay Raptor Center, but it was a close call.   We got a call about a bald eagle unable to fly and hanging upside down in a tree in Menominee. Nick and his family rescued the bird and held it safely until I could get it the next day. Our exam, and our vet’s, did not reveal any obvious injury, but the bird was emaciated and dehydrated, with depressed demeanor. We hydrated and hand fed. We consulted with two eagle rehabbers with much more experience than we have, and consensus was either west Nile virus or lead poisoning, both of which exhibit a similar mixed bag of symptoms. We made arrangements for the eagle to be admitted to Natural Instincts Wildlife Center and took it there yesterday. Mark immediately ran a blood lead level and it was higher than his instrument could measure, meaning over 65 pico grams/dL. Anything over 5 is considered toxic and anything over 20 is considered likely fatal. It is amazing this bird survived as long as it did! Mark immediately started treatment with a chelating agent and hopefully the bird will recover.Studies in the upper Midwest (Wisconsin, Minnesota and Iowa) have shown that lead poisoning of eagles peaks in late fall and early winter, coinciding with deer hunting seasons in that area. Because this bird was observed in August and was observed eating fish near Lake Michigan, it likely was exposed to lead through lead fishing tackle that contaminated the fish.  The Raptor Center in St. Paul, one of the preeminent raptor care centers in the US, documented that 90% of the 120-130 eagles they treat every year have elevated lead levels, and 20-25% have clinical lead poisoning; most die.  Both area-wide studies of where the lead poisoned birds are located, and isotope studies of the poisoning lead compared to lead ammo, confirm that deer hunting using lead ammo is the single most virulent cause of lead poisoning in these magnificent birds.PLEASE stop using lead in either hunting or fishing gear. Save the eagles, and your kids.