Dear Linda and others: I forwarded your message about the dumped geese to Sonny Richardson, Chief of Law Enforcement for TWRA. He brought to me the Federal Migratory Bird Hunting Regulations which include this provision: 20.25 Wanton waste of migratory game birds. No person shall kill or cripple any migratory game bird pursuant to this part without making a reasonable effort to retrieve the bird, and retain it in his actual custody, at the place where taken or between that place and either (a) his automobile or principal means of land transportation; or (b) his personal abode or temporary or transient place of lodging; or (c) a migratory bird preservation facility; or (d) a post office; or (e) a common carrier facility. SOURCE: [41 FR 31536, July 29, 1976] The law clearly states that an effort must be made to retrieve the bird and retain it initially, but does not provide any guidance as to what must be done with the carcasses beyond that. Unfortunately, if someone wants to dump the geese they have shot later in the day, they can do that, as long as they retrieve them from where they were shot. Assuming that these birds were shot, if the person or persons dumping the birds could be discovered, they could be charged with exceeding their bag limits, unless there were enough individuals to account for 50 - 60 dead geese. If this was not the case, the only thing they could really be charged with is littering. Troy Ettel State Ornithologist Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency P.O. Box 40747 Nashville, TN 37204 (615) 781-6653 Troy.Ettel@xxxxxxxxxxx >>> kuczwanski@xxxxxxxx 02/18/02 05:14PM >>> After a very pleasant day birding through east Memphis and Collierville and observing bluebirds, red-bellied and downy woodpeckers and a Coopers Hawk, we went under a bridge just north of Shelton Rd. on Collierville-Arlington Rd. and found fifty or sixty snow geese and one canada goose that had been dumped there. That kind of thing is against the law, isn't it? Does anybody have any idea who I should notify? Linda Kuczwanski Memphis, TN =================NOTES TO SUBSCRIBER===================== The TN-Bird Net requires you to sign your messages with first and last name, city (town) and state abbreviation. ----------------------------------------------------- To post to this mailing list, simply send email to: tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx ----------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, send email to: tn-bird-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'unsubscribe' in the Subject field. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Topographical Maps located at http://topozone.com/find.asp * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Visit the Tennessee Ornithological Society web site at http://www.tnbirds.org * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * TN-Bird Net Owner: Wallace Coffey, Bristol, TN jwcoffey@xxxxxxxxxx (423) 764-3958 ========================================================= =================NOTES TO SUBSCRIBER===================== The TN-Bird Net requires you to sign your messages with first and last name, city (town) and state abbreviation. ----------------------------------------------------- To post to this mailing list, simply send email to: tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx ----------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, send email to: tn-bird-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'unsubscribe' in the Subject field. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Topographical Maps located at http://topozone.com/find.asp * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Visit the Tennessee Ornithological Society web site at http://www.tnbirds.org * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * TN-Bird Net Owner: Wallace Coffey, Bristol, TN jwcoffey@xxxxxxxxxx (423) 764-3958 =========================================================