Posted on 07/30/2011 6:37:18 PM PDT by Renfield
Cops have busted a group of oddball poachers in Prospect Park — a band of vagrants that was trapping and eating ducks, squirrels and pigeons.
Parks officers wrote four tickets — two for killing wildlife and two for illegal fishing — totaling $2,100 in fines during a two-day period last week. BoroDeal
The city would not immediately release details of the incidents, which occurred on July 17 and 18 — just days after park-goers told rangers about a “Beverly Hillbillies”-like scene on the southeast side of the lake, near the ice skating rink.
“This is a dodgy group,” said park-goer Peter Colon, who spotted one of the men catching a pigeon while his friend started a fire. “They are the most threatening people in the park.”
The disheveled — and possibly homeless — tribe in question uses “makeshift” fishing poles and traps to catch the critters, then grills them over the fire, according to park watchdogs.
“One woman uses a net to bag the ducks,” said wildlife advocate Johanna Clearfield.
Wildlife advocates have long pushed the Parks Department to crackdown on illegal hunting and fishing in Prospect Park — especially after a stunning array of cases in which geese and cygnets were injured by illegal barbed fishhooks and lure.
In the most-dramatic case, a plucky little goose who lost the top half of his beak to a fishhook earned him endless sympathy and the nickname, “Beaky.”
The fishing and hunting ticket blitz comes while park-goers collect and document large mounds of fishing wire, claiming waterfowl are frequently get tangled.
And it’s not the first time that poachers have been busted. Last year, park-goers confronted a man after spotting him catching fish and secreting them into a bag — a violation of the city’s “catch-and-release” rules.
After being confronted, the man dumped the dead fish back into the lake.
The new poaching busts bring to mind last year’s wave of animal murders by the so-called “Butcher of Prospect Park,” whose death toll included waterfowl, chickens, turtles and a goat.
For now, wildlife advocates were hailing this month’s busts.
“The fact that they’re ticketing is great — it’s so badly needed,” said goose lover Mary Beth Artz. “I hope they keep it up.”
Bush`s fault.
LOL how can you eat squirrel. yuck Aren’t they a dirty animal ...
Roasted or soup/stew
Yum
I just tried squirrel a year ago. A friend’s 12 yr old kid trapped, skinned, and cooked it. It was good.
Very clean. They groom themselves a lot. And they stay off the ground mostly. And I don't eat the skin and hair.
Your 'yuck' was your cultural conditioning. 3 days without any grub, and you would LOVE squirrel stew and biscuits.
/johnny
Wait ‘till they find out where the zoo is.
No way I would rather starve. Do you shoot them in your backyard?
And that, dear child, is why we have a 5th amendment. ;)
And if you haven't ever gone 3 days without food, you don't know what you would eat. Starving takes 21 ugly days.
/johnny
Where I live there are many ponds and small lakes. The area is loaded with fish, ducks, geese, other birds, turtles, coons, possums, etc,
People feed the ducks and geese and think of them as pets.
But it is is legal for people to come and net the ducks and geese and many do.
So far, of the people taking ducks who have seen by residents or identified in the local media, all have been orientals. So whenever we see an oriental who doesn’t live in the neighborhood walking around our small lake we know they are after the ducks.
I look at the ducks and geese as my SHTF emergency meat supply so these people are definitely poachers!
Read a book entitled "King Rat" written by well known author, James Clavell.
Oh they eat rats yuck. I feel guilty because I just had a nice slice of Sicilian pizza.
“Bush-meat.”
LOL how can you eat squirrel. yuck Aren’t they a dirty animal ...
Ever seen a chicken or pig farm?
These poachers are just small-time animal murderers. The MAYOR, the Honorable Michael Bloombutt, waits until June-July when the Canada geese in the city parks are molting and can’t fly. Then he has them rounded up from every park and killed in metal boxes into which CO2 is pumped. The parents and the babies of the year together. It is truly horrible to visit these parks and see them devoid of the geese we enjoyed watching, knowing that they were brutally killed by the little megalomaniac.
They sound like this: oddball, vagrants, killing, illegal, Beverly Hillbillies, dodgy, threatening, disheveled, homeless, tribe, makeshift, stunning, injured, tangled, poachers, murders, Butcher, death toll
LOL, what utter hypocrites.
About 12 years ago, when she was 6, the family was enjoying a Sunday afternoon at the park in Eugene, OR. There were many families there, as it was one of the first really nice days that year.
They had brought some stale bread to feed the ducks. After a while, they noticed she wasn't feeding the ducks, she was trying to lure some of the wild Canada geese.
She finally got one to come close. She grabbed it by the neck, and while it was beating the hell out of her with it's wings and honking like crazy you could hear this clear, high 6 year old voice yelling "Look Dad! I got one! We can have it for dinner!"
While horrified families were gathering up their children and leaving, dad was trying to get her to let the goose go. It took some doing. She didn't want to. As far as she was concerned, it was going to be Sunday dinner.
She had bruises up and down her sides and both arms, from the wings. Days later she was still giving dad the stink-eye, for making her let it go.
What makes it funnier is that she was (is!) very beautiful and looks very feminine. This was taken a few months before 'The Incident'...
She's still beautiful, still loves to hunt and fish, but now also models, sings, and acts in the local community theater.
LOL how can you eat squirrel. yuck Aren’t they a dirty animal ...
Think of that the next time you go to the fried chicken store.
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