Leave it for the foxes?

[brumadam]

We often hear the term 'leave it for the foxes', meaning chuck an unwanted carcass in the hedge for scavengers to take away.

Does anyone ever take out the pellet they shot their prey with? I'm not having a go at anybody, just wandering. I wonder if an odd ingested pellet can hurt a fox, buzzard, badger, etc.

Has anyone considered this, as I never had until I left a magpie in the hedge the other week, complete with .22 H&N.

What's your thoughts?

[GreenMachine]

The pellet isn't in the foxes stomach long enough to cause any problems.

[Dave_1]

90% of the time no it can't but if it does get into the gut of a Bird such as a Buzzard it will give it lead poisoning. A pellet shatters on impact so lead is penetrated into it's tissue.
A fox's digestive system is highly unlikely to have a problem but a Bird it might have. It's a slim chance but it's been known before in the Falconry World to have done so.
Ask any falconer and he would not take a risk of feeding his Bird on Shot quarry.

[Harry Spillett]

I don’t think too many falconers would have a problem feeding shot quarry to their birds if it has been a head shot. I give a number of the rabbits I shoot to a friend with birds of prey. She removes the head and gives the birds half a rabbit at a time. However I can see that it may be a problem if the birds are picking through a whole carcass in the wild.

[Dave_1]

I know some falconers who have not got a problem with head shots and some do.Most falconers birds kill enough rabbits so it's not usually bothered with but i definately think that if not in the head no falconer would, if he did he is a fool

[Rapidnick]

Isn't this just a theoretical risk unless the carcass is absolutely riddled with lead shot? Most of the scavenging animals and birds who will eat carcasses of shot rabbits etc will surely get rid of any pellet it is unlucky enough to ingest in the 'most natural way possible' without it spending enough time in their bodies to cause a problem.

[fooknmissed]

I doubt the fox would eat everything,feathers & all,the lamb carcass's i've seen that have been scavenged by fox's have just had the tasty bits taken.

[Sam Vimes]

A pellet shatters on impact so lead is penetrated into it's tissue.

After completing the unpleasant task of digging pellets out of carcasses a few times now I doubt that this ever happens with sub 12ft.lb air rifles. The only time I've seen pellets shatter is when they are shot at plate steel. Any medium with any give in it may cause pellets to deform but little else.

[celticwar]

pellet normaly in the head .most animals eat the gut meat ect and leave the head to rot

[Thrud]

I had to help post mortem a duck that had had odd symptoms before death, it was found to have a few, and not many, shot gun pellets in it's digestive system. The birds had been grazing on land that is shot over every now and then. It was surprising how little it had taken to kill the bird.