Posted on 08/03/2011 7:14:41 AM PDT by JoeProBono
FREDERICKSBURG, Va., - A Virginia woman said she feels "harassed and angry" after being slapped with a $535 fine after her daughter rescued a baby woodpecker from a cat.
Alison Capo of Fredericksburg said her daughter, Skylar, 11, saved the bird from a cat in her father's backyard and she agreed to take the bird home to make sure it was not seriously injured, WUSA-TV, Washington, reported Tuesday.
Capo said she and Skylar stopped at a Lowe's on the way home and brought the bird into the home improvement store because of the heat. She said a woman inside the store confronted her and identified herself as an officer with the Virginia Department of Fish and Wildlife.
Capo said the woman told her taking or transporting the baby woodpecker is illegal because the species is protected under the Federal Migratory Bird Act.
The mother said she released the bird as soon as she arrived home and reported the incident to the department, but she encountered the same woman about two weeks later when she showed up at her front door with a Virginia State Police trooper.
Capo said she was fined $535 and cited for unlawfully taking a migratory bird, which can carry a jail sentence of up to a year.
"I feel harassed and I feel angry," Capo said.
Just how many of these EPA nazis are we taking about... ;>
Synopsis (from Gannett restricted site):
Eleven-year old girl saves baby woodpecker from being eaten by family cat at Dad’s house. Mother puts woodpecker in cage to take to her home to make sure it’s o.k. On way home, brought into store out of sun. Female US Fish and Wildlife agent shopping there shows badge, confronts mother about violation of migratory bird act and takes name. Mother releases bird when she arrives home and notifies F&WS.
Two weeks later agent shows up with VA state trooper at home to issue citation. Mother refuses to sign and is issued court warrant.
Update: According to the website, F&WS this p.m. now says its all a big mistake and citation should never have been issued and is sending an apology.
Your federal government at work.
The woodpecker caper was thwarted by government peckerheads.
LOL....actually it’s not to funny :( seems this is the road we are now on. When you start hearing about kids lemon-aid stands being closed, anything is possible.
The mother was foolish enough to call the Virgina Dept. of Fish & Wildlife to report the incident. The article doesn't say whether she called to inquire about the officer's comments or simply to vent, but that seems to be how they found her to issue the fine.
The real cure for such abuses is to defund and shut down the agencies involved with “Endangered Species Act” enforcement and repeal of the laws which allow such abuses to be heaped upon the innocent.
Hell, birds don’t even have rights to freedom anymore. Much less the right to be rescued from a cat and be released upon attaining the ability to feed and defend themselves. ONly the GOVERNMENT has the right to protect and defend the innocent? When did that happen? Was the bird on federal land?
I’m glad they had sense enough to apologize and void their stupid citation! Someone needs to fire, or best yet arrest that commie who tried to confiscate money from a US citizen.
Just a clerical error-BS - Some pin head filled out the paper work for the citation or there would not have been a ticket.
I would have thanked the pinhead for the information, and asked her how to proceed as well as what to do for future reference.?
Should I just turn it loose here? Should I transport it back and give it to the cat? Should I take it to a vet to have it checked out? Should we have just let the cat eat it?
We have so many dang laws, and thousands of pages of regulation implementing each law, how in the heck are we supposed to obey it? It's nuts.
They taste like chicken!
I agree. Im sure my folks over in Middlesex county are laughing at thse ‘city’ folks.
“Baby birds have to be fed every 15 minutes.”
I have many nesting boxes for my bluebirds and watch cardinals, finches, titmouses, wrens, nuthatches, etc nesting on my property in the shrubs and trees. Often the parents leave the nests for long periods of time - even up to several hours. I also have chimney swifts nesting inside my fireplace chimney every year and most of the feeding takes place from 7 pm to 1 am in intervals of about an hour. There is a short period of feeding again in the morning and then nothing for the rest of the day. So this idea that baby birds must eat every 15 minutes is a lot of bunk. As long as they get enough nutrition over the course of the day, they will do fine.
That is the intent. The government wants you to cower before it.
"Did you really think we want those laws observed?" said Dr. Ferris. "We want them to be broken. You'd better get it straight that it's not a bunch of boy scouts you're up against... We're after power and we mean it... There's no way to rule innocent men. The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren't enough criminals one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws. Who wants a nation of law-abiding citizens? What's there in that for anyone? But just pass the kind of laws that can neither be observed nor enforced or objectively interpreted – and you create a nation of law-breakers – and then you cash in on guilt. Now that's the system, Mr. Reardon, that's the game, and once you understand it, you'll be much easier to deal with."
('Atlas Shrugged' 1957)
Yeh, I was thinking of that quote when I asked the question.
Female US Fish and Wildlife agent shopping there shows badge, confronts mother about violation of migratory bird act and takes name.
My experience is different than yours. I’ve rehabbed young ‘uns and found I had to feed them every 15 minutes. It’s not an *idea*...it’s a fact. Ref: Bird Ambulance/Arline Thomas also Care of the Wild & Furred/Mae Hickman and Maxine Guy
Canada geese are a major problem on golf courses. They are hardly ‘migratory’ any more yet entreaties to the selfsame authorities to deal with the problem went unanswered.
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