Possibly like some on here were around and thinking about this when "Silent Spring" was first written. I was in high school when it was written. Some in the biology class questioned the reasonableness of the hypothesis that raptors would be the first to have effects from the chemicals in DDT. The thought was that since DDT effected insects would it not be more likely that the first birds to be effected by the chemical would be the first ones to consume large quantities of the poison first and directly. So with that thought in mind it seemed far more likely that the smaller birds that consumed thousands of insects that had directly been effected more quickly by DDT and that their egg shells would be the first to show thinning. But that was not the case because the swallows, thrushes and the bats that consumed them were seeing no negative effects. It is up to you to determine what is true and logical.
The statement was made "Since it use was banned numbers have rebounded."
Was it the ban of DDT, was it because the ban of 1080, was it the making it illegal for humans to shoot or trap them, was it the lessening of radioactivity, solar flares, changing climate, increased opportunity for prey from modern farming practices, or a thousand other things that changed in the next 30 to 50 years. It is pure speculation that it was the ban of DDT that increased the birds of prey to their current levels.

Please do not get me wrong. Humans ARE RUINING THE EARTH but I can assure you that it will take a higher power to fix it. We should do all we can to not continue to ruin it.

The question was were birds or prey in low numbers when the ban to hunt them was passed and the simple and straight forward answer is "NO, they were not."
The fact that there are far more now than there were then does Not mean they were out of their natural range of variability in the 1960's. Studies indicate that raptors in the 1960's were more numerous than they were in the 1920's and 30's.

Speaking of bird numbers let us consider some birds that are hunted that we have a more statistics on.
Across the entire US there far fewer pheasants than there were in the 60'. (That is a proven by biological facts from hunter harvest reports and State game bird number estimates.)So that poses the question what is for that? Is it because hunters kill too many now. Current bag limits and hunting seasons have pretty much eliminated over harvest. Hunters are annually killing far fewer of these birds than they did in the 50's & 60's. Are they starving to death because of changes in farming practices. That might be true in some areas but the farmers here in wheat country they were planting and harvesting from fence line to fence line from the mid 40's, which included the 50's and 60's which was the highest population of pheasant than at any time in US history. No studies I have read indicate that it is because they were poisoned. Is it because of weather conditions? The weather also doesn't seem to have changed that much in most years.across the entire country until much more recent years. So was it because there are far more predators now? Several studies sure seem to indicate that but I will let each of you determine the answer to that.

I legally hunt and trap specific predators. Why? I can assure you it is not for the profit in selling their meat or pelts. It is to try to keep the balance of their prey species, that I want to hunt, high enough so I, my friends and family can harvest some of them. If the predators kill too many I won't have enough to hunt.
Like most things with me it is pretty simple!
Pete

Removal of B.O.Prey protection in the U.S.A. would be harder to accomplish than the Wolf....and we know hoew thats going.

Buwahahaha!!!
The whole "DDT is bad" myth is a total load of bovine excrement.
Libtards lied, people died.

DDT never, I say again NEVER, harmed any birds in any way. Never. 100% false to think that DDT or its derivatives can possibly harm anything other than arthropods. Doh!

Country folk moving to cities (thereby no longer shooting and trapping raptors that preyed on their fowl), the Endangered Species Act and the lessening of PCBs and mercury in the environment, in decreasing order of impact, caused the overabundance of raptors we see today.

Does no one do their homework these days??? I've known the above since the late 1980s. Talk to people who understand chemistry. DDT is incapable of harming anything other than insects.

Hundreds of millions of innocent people have been brutally murdered by Libtards in our lifetime. When will we stand up against tyranny and lies??

How do we know Libtards are lying?
Their lips are flapping.

It is had for me to believe that one person and write a paper and destroy a billion dollar business. JMO

ARE YOU REFERRING TO THE GLOBAL WARMING OR DDT PAPER ? LOL

DDT

FIO: lead shot ingested in VERY small amount with kill raptors if gone untreated, just go to any wildlife vet and ask them. I have taken 4 eagles to rehabilitators over the years that had lead poisoning. They were not shot.

How was this ddt administered that would cause so many issues? Can’t imagine they covered the country in it.......

Second off topic stupid question/discussion. In your opinion do you think the banning of ddt Caused the rise of ticks?

PARick, this is JMO, when DDT came out there was not the regulation and testing we do now. It worked great and was cheap and getting the job done. As said before there was a lot of people dying from mosquitos all over the world. Until they starting to see the side effects of DDT is use went unchecked. As you have read some think DDT had not effect on anything but bugs.

No, ticks have been around for a long time, I think we see more tick now than 50 years ago in my area, but we see more skunks also.

DDT was banned solely on one study by one nut job lady professor. They took that study and jammed it into everyone’s head over the last 40 years, and millions of people around the world have died from malaria since. It was the cheapest weapon we had against mosquitos.

Below is the obituary for Dr. Joesph J. Hickey, Dr. Hickey was my undergrad ecology adviser while I was at Madison. The lady referenced above was not the only researcher or research that got DDT banned. During the 1960s many hearings were held and Dr. Hickey was involved with many nationwide and statewide.

Bryce

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Hickey

Bryce
If DDT was and is so great and has no side effect why has it not been put back on the market. The study that got DDT ban would not stand up to the scrutiny of todays scientific community. If there were hearing and other researchers that did work on the effects of DDT
nationwide there must have a lot to it than some "nut job lady professors" Study.

Dang!! Didn’t mean to stir the pot with the “nut job lady professor” line. I have just read enough over the years to make me question the study, that in my opinion got the ball rolling on DDT. Spotted owls only nest in old growth forest: O look there is one nesting in a K-Mart sign. In the late 70s Time magazine cover story was the coming ice age and now ALL the scientists say (and AOC) we only have 12 years and we’re toast. Eggs are the devil eat them and die, salt is the fast track to 6’ under. Heck they even got the oil in movie popcorn changed because it was bad for you. Last week we learned it’s a major ingredient in veggie burgers!! Roundup is their current target. The new equipment we buy has a sticker every 10” that says “known to the state of California too...”

I’m not saying you are full of it because you disagree. I just believe that the left has an uncanny ability to pick a topic and make it work to their advantage, or project it onto us. They always have a study that all the scientists agree and or All the economist agree. They use these talking points to ban soft drinks, trapping, hunting, etc..
I love science and chemistry. Its always been a passion of mine, but I always question it. Maybe that’s deficiency on my part.

Most studies or papers are funded by people with an agenda. By extension, most studies and papers have an agenda.

Pawnee:
Would you bring back DDT today, even if it was regulated?

Not sure about DDT, but down here in the South, lead seems to kill more birds of prey than anything else...

I think you would be much better off shooting the eggs eaters and cat than shooting the hawks. Better yet, trap the egg eaters the traps are there 24/7. JMO