Bad Boy Bad Boy Whatcha Gonna Do…?

Below is a tail feather from a Cooper’s hawk that I found laying in the roadway while biking from work yesterday evening on 4th Street through Hancock Park.

I stopped, picked it up, put it in my backpack and went on my way. In doing so, I violated the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918, which provides:

That it is unlawful to pursue, hunt, take, capture or kill; attempt to take, capture or kill; possess, offer to or sell, barter, purchase, deliver or cause to be shipped, exported, imported, transported, carried or receive any migratory bird, part, nest, egg or product, manufactured or not.

No I did not hunt, capture or kill — nor attempt to. No I do not plan to offer, sell, barter, purchase, deliver, ship, or export. But I did take the feather. And I do possess the feather. And given my familiarity with the Act from a past life working at the L.A. Zoo means I knowingly committed a misdemeanor, punishable by: a fine of up to $500, and up to six months in jail.

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Will

Will Campbell arrived in town via the maternity ward at Good Sam Hospital way back in OneNineSixFour and has never stopped calling Los Angeles home. Presently he lives in Silver Lake with his wife Susan, their cat Rocky, dogs Terra and Hazel, and a red-eared slider turtle named Mater. Blogging since 2001, Will's web endeavors extend back to 1995 with laonstage.com, a comprehensive theater site that was well received but ever-short on capital (or a business model). The pinnacle of his online success (which speaks volumes) arrived in 1997, when much to his surprise, a hobby site he'd built called VisuaL.A. was named "best website" in Los Angeles magazine's annual "Best of L.A." issue. He enjoys experiencing (and writing about) pretty much anything creative, explorational and/or adventurous, loves his ebike, is a better tennis player than he is horr golfer, and a lover of all creatures great and small -- emphasis on "all."