Grand jury indicts bird lover in cat's death

[230RN]

Stealth pushpins

Sistema1927

The only thing that has kept me from popping the two mangy cats that hide in the bushes under my bird bath is the fact that there is a nosey biddy across the street who sits in front of her window all day. This doesn't keep me from tossing a rock in their general direction, but I am afraid that a pellet gun or even a slingshot will have her calling the police on me.

You might try push-pins out of a blowgun. Silent, will not kill, but keeps noisy things like noisy magpies away from my bedroom window. If you miss, so what? It's a pushpin on the ground near the birdbath, not like a real, recognizable dart. If you make a hit, it will deliver a bee-sting warning and the innocuous little pushpin will fall out somewhere, unlike a dart, which will stick in there and will become "evidence."

You can do this from well inside a room through an open window.

You wouldn't believe it to look at them, but pushpins fly point first out of a blowgun. They have a rainbow trajectory, so range is a consideration. However, you have a known distance (like I do) and can "sight" it for that distance.

The pushpin caliber is a little smaller than the .41 of the usual blowgun and its safety mouthpiece, so you (A) have to keep from inhaling it (hack-cough!), and (B) have to keep the blowgun more or less horizontal to keep the pushpin from falling out.

I toyed with the idea of building a special blowgun for pushpins, but the regular blowgun did just fine in that application, so I abandoned the idea.

They also make great practice darts, since they are easy to remove from a wooden target backing. A regular dart will stick in there so hard you need pliers to pull them out.

 

[Pilgrim]

Seems excessive to make that a felony charge.

To arrest without having seen the act, the officer has to arrest for a felony.

Pilgrim

 

[kb2iaw]

But i heard not a word from the cornerd cat

 

[SWModel19]

"What really bothers me, this cat was down there killing endangered species of birds and others protected by law," Stevenson said in an interview Thursday

But I thought laws only applied to people. Can you arrest and prosecute a cat?

They are [a foreign species].

I understand why the guy would shoot the cats. Fish and Game (or whatever they're called in Texas) obviously did nothing to get rid of the cats.

That's the sad part. In most regions, wildlife officials encourage the killing of introduced, "hostile" species, and that is exactly what feral cats are. I know I made a joke about his "protected by law comment," but in reality, how else are you gonna deal with it? It's sad that they're prosecuting this guy.

 

[rust collector]

someone's been maintaining a public nuisance

I don't know about TX law, but just about any metro area requires licensing, vaccination and leashes. Cats at large are a threat not only to birds and anything else they can catch, but are vectors for rabies and other public health concerns. No license, no proof of ownership. Owned by another is an element of the offense which must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.

Most western states have statutes dealing with stray animals, invasive species, and animals chasing or preying upon livestock. Piping plovers are endangered, and state law should impose sanctions for disturbing or hazing them as well.

An indictment is not a conviction. This guy will most likely not get to trial, but a lot hinges on whether someone is running for office, it's a slow news day, etc.

 

[PinnedAndRecessed]

For those of you with cat problems in your subdivision, I've trapped several cats (yes, they were all wild) and relocated them. (Have-A-Heart trap) I was living on 14 acres at the time.

Only one made it back. He was missing a couple parts of his anatomy, including his tail. I decided that if he wanted to be there that badly, he could stay.

Then I moved.