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Re: birding forensics



----- Original Message -----
From: "Steve Thomas" <stype@sccoast.net>
To: "Carolinabirds" <carolinabirds@duke.edu>
Sent: Monday, December 02, 2002 4:41 PM
Subject: RFI: birding forensics

Steve:   I think you should report this to a S. C. Wildlife Protector (Game
Warden).  In my opinion, some unethical hunters are shooting anything that
flies at this lake. As you probably know, not all hunters follow the rules.
These hunters have shot the wood ducks and have taken only the breast.  The
Laughing Gull is not edible, and the Ring-neck could be eaten, I suppose,
but most people consider it inedible as well.  These "slob" hunters are
scoff-laws and need to be reported.  The officers will probably check the
lake from time to time if they are not already doing so.  This type hunter
wouldn't think twice about shooting an Osprey or an Egret or anything else.
Shooting a gull is a Federal offense, isn't it?
Lucille Lentz
ljl@etinternet.net
Ellerbe, NC


> Saturday my wife and I went canoeing on Kingston Lake near Conway, SC.  In
> the debris floating at two snags (which were themselves withing 100 yds),
> we found 4 dead birds; a Laughing Gull, a Ring-necked Duck, and 2 male
Wood
> Ducks.  All appeared to be very recently dead.
>
> As we passed we inspected the carcasses. The gull was completely intact,
> but the two Wood Ducks, which were found floating breast down, had had
> their breasts entirely removed neatly and cleanly (no other damage was
> evident).  The Ring-necked Duck (also found floating breast down) appeared
> to have had some small "pecking" at its breast, but not much.
>
> Do you think a Peregrine Falcon may be involved, or this being duck
season,
> might the ducks have been shot and then eaten from below by some unknown
> scavenger?  Can any of you speculate on the cause of demise based on the
> admittedly scanty evidence I gave?
>
> Thanks,
> St.
>
> Stephen Thomas
> stype@sccoast.net
> Aynor, SC
>
>