If neighbor poisoned our birds, what can I do?

[violetsky]

I believe but maybe wrong but isn't it illegal to kill songbirds? Poison millet will also
kill federally protected species and I don't believe anyone can recklessly set out poison
even on their own property. Rat poison is usually dyed a bright color and the boxes have
warning signs on them.

 

[EM Squared Farms 2]

The person who originally started the thread is no longer here posting.

 

[Lazy J Farms Feed & Hay]

Quote:
Hmm, something bad must have happened since her last post about 5 hours ago.

 

[Chic-n-farmer]

The first thing I would do is make sure my critters couldn't stick their cute little bills over the property line (hardware cloth). Then I'd be watching to see if any millet made it over the fence.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Lazy J Farms Feed & Hay :

Quote:
Hmm, something bad must have happened since her last post about 5 hours ago.

5 hours is nothing. Life happens: work, committments to family/friends, etc. Heck, even simply working around the home takes time away from the computer. All that said, there may be legal stuff going on based upon her last post.

If it had been days, thn yes, the statement that the OP is no longer posting might be reasonable, but 5 hours? Not.​

 

[NatureBoy86]

Id probly be in jail if I was OP. Hope all works out

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

caught the neighbor putting millet just inside the fenceline for the OP's birds to reach through and eat, called the police...sounds like the right sequence to me. Although I would expect that they might be quickly rounding up the birds o prevent them from eating it, as I would certainly assume that it is poisoned. I'd also be looking for an opportunity to grab a sample for testing.

 

[BusyBlonde]

Is there an update? Hope your other ducks are okay!

 

[Little One]

That is just strange... I don't know what to think, yet. No more updates on what happened?

 

[freezefamilyfarm]

Gee guys, I work full time, have a farm and six kids. I don't sit in front of the computer.

Jim, you are welcome to come check it out yourself. It is that cut and dried, read on if you care.

Ok, so cop came yesterday afternoon. Took photos and report. Neighbor was not there. Apparently they have to get DAs go-ahead before doing anything. They did go interview neighbor at his son's place of business in town (read: small town business owner) but nothing has been done.

The substance in gopher bait, STRYCHNINE poison. Causes seizures, respiratory and failure and death. Not a pleasant way to die. According to labeling, it is to be dispensed underground and improper use of it is against federal law. It is distributed along 30+ feet of fence line with a large pile on OUR property. We have pics of it with police officers foot in the photo for proof. We also have pics of the two wild Canadian geese that are at his pond every day pecking along the fence line. The game warden will be out today. We are pursuing every avenue. All authorities we have talked to admit it is a violation of federal law, but finding someone to enforce that law is like banging your head on the wall. EPA referred us to Dept of Ag, they are sending someone when they have time to see if it was enough to contaminate ground water. In the mean time, we are leaving it because he needs to be held accountable. I'm not messing with the stuff!

We took the dead and sick birds to Oklahoma State University Toxology Lab. We will have a full report from them. They will have to put down the two ill ones. We also have 18 ducks and 10 chickens who had access to the poison. We will see what OSU says, but these were meat ducks and roosters and we most likely will not be able to eat them.

The birds seemed to show no interest in the grains yesterday. I think they only ate it originally because they saw him pour it and that is what they do, they see us pour out grain and they run eat it. I'm guessing its not that good, so they chose not to go for it again. But today they are penned up in their run. A fact that makes me sad all on its own.

Jim, as for "subdivision", we are zoned Agricultural. We have neighbors with cows and horses. Last night a tractor was on the pasture behind our place cutting hay. This man obsesses on his lawn and his pond. He had it sprayed with chemicals last week which makes me sick to think what we are being exposed to. He rearranges dirt around his pond every weekend and he is upset about feathers getting on his yard. He doesn't do anything in his yard. There are about 20 feathers spread over 5 acres. We are in Oklahoma, wind happens. My husband "sweeps" our yard with the mower attachment every weekend. You can't smell anything in our yard unless you are 2 ft from the coop.

The point is, you can't just pour deadly poison on someone else's property or bait their animals with it. I have twin 19 month olds and a 6 year old that loves seeds and is always carrying seed around to "plant in the spring". What if she had found this pile in our yard? And if the DA won't do anything we have a pretty good civil suit. Thinking about a lawsuit makes me nauseous, my this is a very malicious action and if nothing is done we will live in constant fear.

I will update when we know something else, but don't think I've disappeared because it has been 5 hours.