Residents of the town of Orleans in Jefferson County reported seeing a neighbor shoot and kill several wild turkeys from their backyard on February 27th.
When New York State Department of Environmental Conservation officers questioned the neighbor, he admitted to firing four shots, killing three wild turkeys as they were feeding on a bird feeder in his backyard. The poachers then hid the turkey in the back of a pickup truck.
ECO ticketed the poachers on multiple charges, including discharging a firearm within 500 feet of an occupied residence, illegally taking wild animals, and taking out-of-season game. The bird was seized as evidence.
The next wild turkey season runs from May 1 to May 31, with a bag limit of two bearded birds per hunter. It is not uncommon for wild turkeys to gather in residential areas near bird feeders during the winter to store the fat they need for survival.
The following report is an excerpt from DEC.
On February 17, the New York City Police Department’s Harbor Division observed an injured bald eagle floating on the ice of the Hudson River under the George Washington Bridge. The bird was captured and wrapped in a blanket. ECO and his team transferred the eagle to an animal transport vehicle and took it to the Raptor Trust, a rehabilitation facility in New Jersey. The eagle remains under guard and is receiving treatment at a facility.
Toward the end of New York’s deer season, a Marion hunter shared a photo of a deer he had killed with an acquaintance. An investigation revealed that the hunter had taken screenshots of the deer from various social media sources and passed them off as his own. However, one photo of the 8-point dollar turned out to be genuine. ECO determined that the animal was shot by a hunter who did not have a hunting license at the time. Hunter recently received more than a dozen tickets, four of them for misdemeanors.
On March 11th, ECO was patrolling Sugar Hill State Forest when they encountered a large pile of trash blocking the road. ECO worked with forest rangers to clear a path and search the mountains for clues. They determined that local garbage collectors had dumped approximately 16,000 pounds of trash. The trucking company, along with the Town of Orange Highway Department, returned to the scene to clear the pile and properly dispose of it. All documented charges related to this incident will be processed through an administrative order.
On February 13, ECO seized 200 oysters from a Brooklyn fish store. The oysters come from China and are not compliant with the Interstate Certified Shellfish Shipper List. The list is a monthly document published by the FDA listing dealers, harvesters, and shippers approved to sell shellfish in the United States.
A wildlife rehabilitation specialist visited a Harlem pet store in January and found an eastern box turtle for sale. The turtle is native to New York, and the state’s environmental conservation laws make it illegal to own or sell it as a pet. On January 27, an undercover DEC agent purchased the turtles and later returned with two ECOs. They seized the reptile and took it to a certified rehabilitation specialist, who determined the animal was too tame to be released back into the wild. The turtle will spend the rest of its life as an educational specimen. The pet store owner received a violation notice.
#Upstate #York #turkey #poacher #arrested #bagging #outofseason #birds