Beer-Collar Criminal Still At Large in Bay Area
 Image: Tim Peartrice, Flickr Creative Commons |
Gulls may seem to take over beaches—and squawk and hover until they finagle food—but they still don’t deserve beer-can collars. That’s exactly what’s happening in the San Francisco Bay Area where, since mid-August, five gulls have been spotted with cut up cans intentionally ringed around their necks, according to International Bird Rescue Research Center and WildRescue. “It has been confirmed by wildlife experts that someone is maliciously catching gulls and collaring them with cut beer cans,” IBRCC wrote on its blog.
This isn’t a case of the trash-loving birds rifling through yesterday’s happy hour refuse either. “It’s not a hoax,” Rebecca Dmytryk from WildRescue posted on the organization’s blog November 3. “We just spent two days trying to catch a real bird with a real Budweiser beer can around it's neck.”
The two aid groups are working together to catch the culprit of this federal crime, which they say is punishable under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and which prevents the birds from getting the nutrition they need or properly cleaning their wings. For a little motivation, the organizations have offered a $2,500 reward—which started as $1,000, but that anonymous donations upped—for capture of the responsible party.
If you spot one of these helpless gulls, don’t try to catch it, the rescue groups say. Instead, call them at (831) 429-2323 or e-mail rescue@wildrescue.org. Going after the birds could result in scaring them further, making capture and collar removal more difficult later.
Two comments on the IBRCC blog put nicely into words how unnecessary acts like this make bird lovers feel: “Too bad someone is doing this. Collaring birds is a…valuable method to study some species,” wrote someone from Norway. Another followed more simply with, “Humans suck.”
This is absolutely wretched.
This is absolutely wretched. I hope the birds are okay and that the culprits are caught and prosecuted.
I agree. When the person is
I agree. When the person is caught, they need to be punished to the fullest extent of the law--first-time offender or not.
We can see the decline in
We can see the decline in the human race by their treatment of birds, animals, fish and mammals.
You are absolutely correct!!
You are absolutely correct!! And it is sick and sad!
What a cruel joke! Do they
What a cruel joke! Do they know how the birds are being lured in? I realize that a lot of gulls are so habituated to humans that this task would be quite easy. Another reason not to habituate wild animals to hand feeding by humans.
Backyard birding enthusiast and owner of YourBirdOasis.com an online birding store with a variety of beautiful Bird Baths, Bird Feeders, and Bird Houses.
What kind of a twisted
What kind of a twisted individual would do such an awful thing? This person obviously has waaaaaay too much time on their hands to come up with such a disgusting and insane task! Are they trying to send a message to someone? When this person is caught authorities should lock a neckbrace around their neck and then stick them in jail for awhile. The punishment would fit the crime... What a jerk!
Just shoot them-so much
Just shoot them-so much quicker and less expensive-I mean the birds NOT the perps
I agree with the "people
I agree with the "people suck" comment
What a pathetic bastard who
What a pathetic bastard who would spend his time doing this to these birds. What a useless waste of space on the planet. I hate him/them and how they make unnecessary suffering just to be on the news.
This is very sad, I hope
This is very sad, I hope they can catch and remove the cans from all the gulls suffering before it is too late, and I hope they catch the culprit.
Why would someone do this to
Why would someone do this to a poor bird. There are some twisted people who do dumb things. They should be punished and collared.
I think when they are
I think when they are caught, that they should be forced to wear a cut beer can on their penis while in jail!