I am sorry. This page is no longer available for public access. Because of the stupid idiots in California, the roller pigeon fanciers, I am discontinuing public access to this page. These people who raise hawk food (roller pigeons), have killed thousands of red-tails, Cooper's hawks, and peregrines who naturally attack the genetic mutants that the fanciers produce. These pigeons have seizures in mid-flight, which naturally attracts hawks and other predators. If you want access to my trap page, please contact me via email, and if you are a licensed falconer, I will give you the link, based on your word that you will not pass the link along. These pigeon fanciers keep and use hawk traps, and I do not want to contribute to the unlawful destruction of these birds of prey. See article below. Thanks, Chuck Redding
cisco@virtualvideo.cc
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MIGRATORY BIRD ACT: Four Inland men are among
suspects accused of killing raptors to protect pigeons.
11:42 PM PDT on Thursday, May 24,
2007
By JENNIFER BOWLES, SANDRA STOKLEY and IMRAN
GHORI
The Press-Enterprise
Seven Southern California men, including four
from the Inland region, were arrested Wednesday on suspicion of
killing scores of red-tailed hawks and other
raptors that prey on the pigeons they breed for aerial acrobatic
competition.
The men have been charged with violating the
federal Migratory Bird Act, which protects raptors. Each
misdemeanor count carries a maximum sentence of
six months in federal prison.
Brian McCormick, 40, of Norco, denied the charges
Thursday and said he was "extremely shocked" when federal
agents showed up on his doorstep at 7:30 a.m.
Wednesday. He said that while hawks and falcons cause
"devastating losses" to enthusiasts who breed and
raise champion birds, he would never kill them. A breeding
pair of roller pigeons that perform backward
somersaults while in flight can fetch $300 to $500, he said.
"For me the loss is emotional,"
McCormick said. "I raise 100 birds to make a team and half of them are eaten
by
birds of prey. It's heartbreaking."
Besides McCormick, those arrested were Darik
McGhee, 38, of San Bernardino; Timothy Decker, 60, of Mira Loma;
and Rayvon Hall, 46, of Rialto. Also arrested
were: Juan Navarro, 44, of Los Angeles, who is the national
president of the National Birmingham Roller Club;
Keith London, 42, of South Los Angeles; and Efren Lopez Jr.,
28, of Hacienda Heights. McGhee, reached at his house in a
working-class neighborhood of north San Bernardino,
declined to comment on the charges filed against
him. Hall was still in custody and unavailable for comment,
his son, Jermale Hall, said by phone. Decker was
not home Thursday.
Pigeon enthusiasts throughout the region kill an
estimated 1,000 to 2,000 Cooper's hawks, red-tailed hawks and
Peregrine falcons each year, according to Ed
Newcomer, an undercover agent for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service who was involved in the 14-month
investigation.
In this particular case, the raptors were shot in
traps, beaten or suffocated after being sprayed with a bleach
and ammonia solution that created a poisonous
chlorine gas, according to court records. Bullet-riddled hawk
carcasses were recovered from some of the homes
and one defendant told an undercover agent that he had filled a
five-gallon bucket with talons that he had cut
from slain hawks.
Scores of Birds Shot
Lisa Nichols, a special agent with the U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service based in San Diego, said it's not a case
of just one bird being shot; it was scores.
"It's a huge impact on the environment when you
take out a predatory bird. It's going to change the balance of
nature," Nichols said.
The wildlife service was aided in the arrests by
the Riverside County Sheriff's Department and wardens from the
California Department of Fish and Game, Nichols
said..
Joseph B. Chalk, who runs a raptor
rehabilitation center in San Bernardino with his wife, Linda, said in the
past 20 months they have treated at least 25
raptors wounded by gunshots, including one found in Colton that
was shot in the wing.
"It will never fly again," he said. "It's
heartbreaking because we do this just out of a passion that we have
for the birds of prey and we don't need anymore
business like this where they are shot."
Some of the men arrested were affiliated with
clubs that breed rolling pigeons for competitions, including
National Birmingham Roller Club.
Cliff Ball, the group's national fly director,
said the sport is similar to dog shows, with national and
international competitions. The pigeons, he said,
are judged on their speed, quality of backward somersaults
while in flight and aesthetics of their
performance.
Joseph Johns, assistant U.S. attorney, said some
enthusiasts fly their birds at times of the day and year when
there are fewer predators.
"Clearly other individuals are a bit more
egocentric and arrogant and think that they can just kill whatever
natural predators show up," he said.
He called the crimes ironic because pigeon
hobbyists inbreed a genetic defect that causes the birds to seize up
and tumble in flight. He said that makes them
appear to be distressed and an easy target for predators.
"These hobbyists are breeding hawk and falcon
food," he said.
According to court records,
Newcomer attended the Pageant of Pigeons that was held in San Bernardino on
Nov. 19
where a raffle sponsored by the California
Performance Roller Club included two hawk traps as prizes.
He also attended a roll pigeon flying competition
at McGhee's home on April 7, records said. At that event,
Newcomer overheard Hall talking about a falcon
living on the state building in downtown San Bernardino.
Hall told the guests that he and McGhee went down
to "see if we could get a shot at him," Newcomer quoted Hall
as saying. The two discussed shooting the bird
from the top of the nearby Radisson Hotel but decided it was too
risky because there were too many people nearby,
according to records.
Traps Found
Several hawk traps were found at the homes of the
suspects.
Jermale Hall said authorities found a hawk trap
at their house but denied his father used it to trap birds.
"It wasn't even set up," Jermale Hall said. "It
was sitting in a dark corner. We don't even use it."
McCormick, a magazine editor, said a trap found
on his property is used to capture cats that threaten his
birds.
McCormick said all types of birds -- not just
pigeons -- have been his passion since his childhood. He owns
several hundred exotic birds, including
parakeets, finches, cockatiels and parrots.
He said he keeps five teams of roller pigeons and
participates in competitions about twice a month. A team is
composed of 20 birds. McCormick is a past
president of the California Performance Roller Club and won the
California State Championship in 2006.
McCormick said birds of prey have even attacked
and eaten young, inexperienced birds housed in his aviaries.