Do we have any Federal agents who are not occupied collecting stuffed birds who might have time to collect a few illegal aliens?
Posted on 10/31/2006 7:51:25 PM PST by Shermy
The gull under glass, it turns out, was only the beginning. Now there's also the case of the whisked-away walrus.
On the same day that a pair of federal fish-and-wildlife agents demanded a 150-year-old stuffed gull that hangs from the wall of a Camden restaurant, they also stopped at a Boothbay Harbor clothing store to confiscate the proudly displayed remains of a Pacific walrus.
"I was taken aback," said Sewall Maddocks, who owns Paine's Clothing Store in Boothbay Harbor. "We're fighting wars, there's starving people in the world, and we're spending money at the federal level to do this."
Maddocks explained that he found the skull and tusk of a walrus in the late 1980s or early 1990s when he was fishing commercially off the coast of Alaska. The remains, which weigh 20 to 30 pounds, got caught in a fishing net.
Maddocks brought the oddity back to Maine, and his children have lugged it to school when their classes had show-and-tell.
Maddocks stored the walrus parts at his house until last year, when he purchased the clothing store and put them on display there. Then last Thursday, two special agents from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service arrived and confiscated the remains.
Rob Rothe, one of the two Orland-based agents, said Monday that walruses are protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act. The law makes exceptions for animals possessed by native Alaskans and for animals acquired before 1972, but neither of those conditions applied in this case.
"Generally, if a violation occurs, the item then has to be seized," Rothe said.
Eric Holmes, lead agent in the Boothbay Harbor case, was out of the office Monday and unavailable for comment. In the case involving Cappy's Chowder House in Camden, the stuffed bird has not been confiscated. Owner Johanna Tutone said Monday that she's been given another week to try to reach an agreement on where the gull should go. One possible destination is the Penobscot Marine Museum in Searsport. But after the office of Maine Sen. Olympia Snowe became involved in the case, Tutone was more optimistic that she might be allowed to keep the mounted bird.
"We're looking for a remedy that would allow her to maintain possession," said Snowe spokesman Jake Ward. Tutone, who bought the mounted bird more than two decades ago at the auction of a sea captain's estate, said she's gotten many supportive phone calls since her story hit the news last week.
"We're thrilled that people find this as ridiculous as we do," she said. "There's so much going on in the world. We're using two special agents to collect a stuffed bird. It's sort of silly."
Rothe, the fish-and-wildlife agent, said confiscations of stuffed birds and walrus skulls are uncommon in Maine. But he said his office does get a lot of complaints about wildlife being held illegally.
He said the walrus remains are being held in evidence storage. In many cases, items seized by agents are sent to a warehouse in Colorado and then distributed to approved institutions, such as museums.
Maddocks said he was informed that someone complained about the walrus parts about three weeks ago. He, too, has contacted Snowe's office and asked for help in securing their return.
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GOO GOO GEH JOOB!!! GOO GOO GEH JOOB!
I told you about the walrus and me man...
I'm telling you we're as close as can be man...
Well here's another clue for you all:
THE WALRUS WAS PAUL!!!
"I was the walrus. Paul wasn't the walrus. I was just saying that to be nice, but I was actually the walrus"
John Lennon
Magical Misery Tour
National Lampoon's Radio Dinner
Funny how you never hear what happens to this stuff when it's seized. Bet some agent or judge has a really nice cedar home in the woods somewhere that will soon have a few new decorator items.
These tidbits simmered for years in the stock pot over to Mamma Baldacci's. Bout time they was picked up. First 10-12 years they did lend a certain piquance to the minestrone, but enough's enough.
But that gull still had some years left to go.
john kerry is an asshole
john kerry is a walrus asshole? john kerry is a seagull asshole?
No! Just 'john kerry is an asshole'!
I love it, shadowcat! Ya made da gonz laugh! Welcome to FR, 2006-7-21............FRegards
...I think I'll have to adopt this kid...
Do we have any Federal agents who are not occupied collecting stuffed birds who might have time to collect a few illegal aliens?
Probably ratted out by some envirowacko transplant from the Portland area. Do we know if the gull or the walrus were smoking? Would this have happened if the proprietors were Muslims?
Well, while it is easy to find illegal aliens, finding them stuffed and mounted is a wee bit more difficult. Instead, I suggest that many Federal officials should go get stuffed.
"I could be the Walrus, but I'd still have to bum rides off of people." - Ferris Bueller
In the days when you was "Gettin there fustest with the mostest" it was probably easier to identify members of the 'gentler persuasion.' OTOH, I just seen Roy Rogers' horse Trigger, stuffed and mounted and he weren't enjoying it at all.
Nothing is safe in the search for Osama.
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