Acting on a tip, a New York State Department of Environmental Conservation police officer last month found blood stains and a gut pile in a wooded area near the home of a hunter in Ogdensburg. The hunter was known to ECOs from previous complaints of deer jacking at night.
A K9 found more evidence, including deer blood in a garage. Presented with this evidence, the hunter admitted to killing a deer out of season using a bow. Officers confiscated the deer and charged the hunter with hunting deer during a closed season and killing a deer except as permitted, both misdemeanors. The subject also received a violation for unlawfully possessing wildlife.
The following reports are excerpted from DEC
DEC police officer Franz rescued this bald eagle in the Dutchess County town of Amenia. The bird was sick from lead poisoning and couldn't fly, but is now recovering at a wildlife rehab center. (Provided)
On Jan. 6, an ECO rescued an injured bald eagle in the Dutchess County town of Amenia. The bird was on the ground in the woods next to a stream, unable to fly. The ECO climbed down the stream bed and used a towel to safely subdue the bird. The sick eagle was transferred to a wildlife rehabilitation center, which determined it was suffering from lead poisoning. A fragment of lead the size of a grain of rice is lethal to eagles and even small exposure can cause severe neurological problems. The injured eagle received one round of therapy at the wildlife rehab center and is responding well. Lead exposures are often the result of lead ammunition fragments and lead fishing tackle left behind by hunters and anglers in the field.
On Jan. 23, a Cooper’s hawk was struck by a car in Erie County. The dazed and injured hawk remained in the roadway until an ECO safely captured it and transported it to the Erie County SPCA for treatment. Staff at the animal hospital determined the hawk sustained minor injuries but kept it overnight for observation. The following morning, ECOs released the hawk in a wooded area.
DEC police officer Abelson rescued this young opossum in a basement stairwell of a housing development in Astoria, Queens. He released it in a nearby wildlife refuge.
ECOs also rescued a young opossum on Jan. 10 in a basement stairwell of a housing development in Astoria, Queens. It was released in a nearby wildlife refuge.
A man from the Chemung County town of Veteran last month drove his mini excavator into a culvert and got it stuck, causing a discharge of hydraulic fluid into a nearby waterway. An ECO charged the man with two water quality violations, including failure to report a petroleum spill within two hours. DEC Spill Responders oversaw cleanup of the site. State troopers also visited the site while investigating a potential arson case involving a resident who allegedly set fire to his own ATV and a relative’s property nearby, but the relative declined to press charges.
On Jan. 23, an angler went chumming for steelhead on the Salmon River. Chumming, defined as “depositing fish eggs that are not attached to hooks into New York waters,” is an illegal fishing method used by some anglers to attract fish by dumping bait. The angler, who was in a boat, chummed every fishing hole he passed with salmon eggs, according to ECOs who observed the activity. ECOs waited for the angler to return to boat launch and ticketed him for two counts of taking or attempting to take fish by chumming.
K9 Benny sniffs out blood from a deer in the garage of a suspected deer poacher in Ogdensburg. The poacher was charged with two misdemeanors.
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Steve Featherstone covers the outdoors for The Post-Standard, syracuse.com and NYUP.com. Contact him at sfeatherstone@syracuse.com or on Twitter @featheroutdoors. You can also follow along with all of our outdoors content at newyorkupstate.com/outdoors/ or follow us on Facebook at facebook.com/upstatenyoutdoors.