Casper the barn owl provides commissioners with lesson on lead levels

There was a flap at the Porter County Board of Commissioners meeting Tuesday morning, but rather than screeching from constituents, a local barn owl made a dignified representation on behalf of Humane Indiana, the nonprofit that operates out of unincorporated Porter County.

The board invites a rotating marquee of community groups to its monthly meetings to educate them and the public on the various entities serving the community. Casper, a female barn owl raised in captivity who’s been with Humane Indiana since September, helped to highlight disturbingly high levels of lead found in a spectrum of species across Porter County.

Nicole Harmon, director of wildlife rehabilitation and education for Humane Indiana, explained that Casper was raised in captivity because her species is no longer found in the wild and is endangered in Indiana. “They used to be found in Northwest Indiana, but they no longer are,” she said. “You have to go south of Indianapolis to find them.”

When Harmon took on her role in 2020, Humane Indiana began providing data to a variety of research universities. They provide data to Otterbein University in Ohio for an acoustic bat study, data on SARS/COVID II in mammal populations to the University of Florida, and avian influenza data to the Indiana Department of Natural Resources. But it was the lead levels in local wildlife that got the most attention Tuesday.

Inspired by the same work at The Raptor Center of Illinois, Harmon’s staff found 85% of birds of prey had detectable lead levels when it began testing here. They moved on to mammals and also found disturbing levels in groundhogs and other species.

Tiny, three-week-old Eastern Screech Owls “have lead levels so high they’re not surviving,” Harmon said. “What does that mean for human health if all the animals around us are testing high for lead?”

Commissioners President Jim Biggs, R-North, asked about lead levels in roadside sediment. Harmon replied that Indiana University Northwest tested roadside gravel. “They were finding all that roadside sediment, all those little pieces of gravel, tested for heavy metals, not just lead,” she said.

“We get animals that are testing very high for lead in downtown Valpo, but in rural areas as well,” Harmon added.

“That should get all our attention,” Biggs said. “If it’s that prevalent in our wildlife, how could it not be in us?”

That begs the question of what to do about it. Biggs said it would be nice if Humane Indiana partnered with the Porter County Health Department.

“Any way that we can help, short of giving money, because we can’t do that,” he said.

Even without funds from county coffers to put behind the problem, there is evidence that the situation is improving. With four years of data accumulated, the lead percentage has dropped to 68% in local wildlife.

CEO Brian Fitzpatrick gave another indicator. “In most of our lifetime you didn’t see bald eagles, and now you see them,” he said. “We’re not looking to be activists, we’re looking to be advocates.”

Shelley Jones is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.