Humans don’t always get tangled in the web of their deception, but it happens.
The following accounts are taken from legal records.
• A pair of twentysomething deer poachers from Mississippi slipped into Ohio, where they fought the law and the law won. After appearances in Belmont County and Muskingum County courts, the two retreated south, having been assessed fines, restitution and forfeited equipment that would’ve purchased the better part of a pre-owned trailer in Poplarville, from whence they originated.
• The individual who used a golf cart to intentionally drive over a Canada goose nest in Madison County was penalized for taking out geese out of season.
• The deer hunter wearing an orange hat but lacking the full gun-season ensemble prescribed by law was spotted, cited and paid a fine and court costs for wardrobe deficiencies.
• Discovering after the fact that his purchase and possession of a midland painted turtle and an eastern map turtle were illegal, a Miami County resident surrendered the turtles to authorities. The turtles, doubtlessly OK to be captive anywhere if fed, became wards of Ohio State Parks as educational animals.
• A
Lake Erie
fishing guide practicing without a license paid $6,000 in fines and restitution. His sentencing included 45 days in the local lockup, plus 135 days in jail suspended pending three years without a similar violation.
• The fellow who said he was acting as a hunting guide for his partner, though not himself hunting, could show neither the required Ohio license nor spring permit. Pike County Court set the price for that at $430 in fines and costs.
• On the opening day of dove season, a few hunters in Columbiana County were reported to be targeting killdeers, a protected nongame species not known for table quality but well understood to die when shot. One shooter paid $345 in fines and court costs for his snuffing of nongame birds.
• A picture might be worth a thousand words, but it was also worth $350 in fines to a hunter snapped by a trail cam while hunting on property in Hardin County without the landowner’s permission.
• A group of hunters who set loose dogs with tracking collars in pursuit of coyotes across the Harrison County countryside discovered it’s not legal – or particularly smart – to unleash baying hounds on property they neither owned nor had permission to hunt. Each was ordered to pay $200 in fines. Tally-ho.
• A rescuer who removed a raccoon from the trap of a licensed nuisance trapper in Franklin County paid $149 and court costs for what must have seemed like a terrific idea at the time.
Some tangles built on happenstance can be untangled.
• A broken window hinted at the entry point for the wild turkey holed up in a bathroom at a Portage County house. A wildlife officer captured the bird and released it in the nearby woods to do its usual business.
• A barred owl rescued famished, dehydrated and underweight from inside a Cuyahoga County chimney needed a few days of rehab to get itself back together. The ensuing release prompted an immediate call from the refreshed owl, which in turn provoked an answer from another barred owl nearby.
• An eastern screech owl was on the mend after getting struck in March by a vehicle on a Morgan County road. Mostly happy news, sure, but birds gung-ho about crossing roads might someday consider whether anything special lay on the other side.
• A rogue sparrow that entered an Allen County restaurant got help exiting from a wildlife officer with a net.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch:
How golf carts, turtles, poor fashion choices ended up costing Ohio outdoors enthusiasts
