A wildlife center is hoping hunters save the hearts from their harvested deer.
Executive Director at the Northwoods Wildlife Center in Minocqua Mickey Mueller says the heart tissue is good food for the injured birds...
"...The hearts tend to be very nutritional for the eagles and raptors. High protein, low fat. It's a really good resource of nutrition for them..."
Mueller says the raptors like eagles and hawks will dive in on the gut piles left by hunters, but she says danger can lurk there for the birds...
"Any of the hunters still using lead for their ammunition. If they can remove anything they would leave in the woods that helps the raptors and the eagles tend to scavenge off anything that is left out there. If they're using copper ammunition, that's not a problem because that doesn't affect their systems at all, but the lead does...."
Mueller says you can stop by the Northwoods Wildlife Center weekdays from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. She says if the hearts are frozen and they're not open, just leave them inside the outside door in the cold air. Mueller says it's always good to call ahead.
