When Fish & Wildlife come knocking - unannounced

I had quite the interesting 'visit' late yesterday afternoon. I was in the middle of doing dinner when the doorbell rang. I opened the front door (still have a glass storm door separating me from whoever is out there) , and 2 uniformed men were standing there, flashing their badges against the glass door, announcing they were from Fish & Wildlife.

They said they had received an anonymous call from someone, claiming I ILLEGALLY kept tropical birds, and that they had to investigate. Mind you, from the glass door you can see straight into my kitchen, and my Java trees are right there, and both Ripley and Niko were out, so they were in plain view (plus, they were also quite audible at that time :54

I told the 'gentlemen' to hold on a second while I put my dogs out back and invited them in.

I then immediately presented them my PERMIT for all of my 'illegal' birds. I did tell them if they wanted to compare band numbers they were free to do it on their own as I wasn't about to spoil my dinner.

They briefly glanced at the Amazons in the adjoining room, and proceeded to take photos of how they were kept! WHAT???

Now I have to admit, I was totally tongue-tied (which is really out of character for me), but there was no way I was not going to comply with anything, especially because when I pay for my fees each year, the paperwork I have to sign clearly states I would allow Fish & Wildlife to pay me a visit if they chose to 'inspect' my animals.

The 'visit' lasted less than 10 minutes, but boy did I have my panties in a bunch. And here I thought I knew my neighbors.

Eeeek! Wendy, that's certainly a reason to get your panties in a bunch! What an awful surprise on any evening. I know your home and birds could pass any kind of surprise inspection at any time, but that doesn't make it more pleasant.

Did the birds have any comments for the surprise guests?

Your state must have very strict laws governing pet ownership. You have to have renewable permits for each of your birds?

Wow! Big brother protecting us!
But when I first read your title, 'When Fish & Wildlife come knocking....'
My first thought was, if you have a fish at your door, you have other problems, and may consider moving!

Oh Allee, this state 'blows'. Can't wait to haul butt out of here - seriously! Not...nearly...soon...enough!!!

Yes, I have to renew the permits for the birds every single year. It's a $20 fee (regardless how many 'exotics' you have). The initial paperwork is the biggest PITA because they want to know EVERYTHING. Not only species and band numbers, but how they are kept, how big the cages are, what type of cages, and how they are cared for. So when they send me the renewal form at the end of each year, I have to check off that nothing has changed, attach a check and wait for the next/new permit to come in by mail. :20:

The dogs must be registered, too, but I can do that via my township.

WOW! What a fabulous surprise~ how thoughtful of your neighbors [emoji52]

Wow! I did not know that you had to register your birds each year. My guess is they took pictures of your birds set ups so they could show people the way birds are meant to be kept. What did they have to say when they left? I am so sorry you had to go through this, what a pain.

Allee said:

Did the birds have any comments for the surprise guests?

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Allee, both Ripley & Niko kept hollering "HELLO...Hello-oooh", and Hunter promptly started singing her "Jiggly Puff" for the strangers.

Flboy said:

My first thought was, if you have a fish at your door, you have other problems, and may consider moving!

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David, ROFLMAO!!!

Terry57 said:

Wow! I did not know that you had to register your birds each year. My guess is they took pictures of your birds set ups so they could show people the way birds are meant to be kept. What did they have to say when they left? I am so sorry you had to go through this, what a pain.

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Thanks so much, Terry! I know when I initially registered them, I sent photos along with the paperwork. Perhaps they were going to compare? IDK. The guys were from my township, but the registration is sent directly to Trenton, so I guess they will forward their 'findings' to Trenton?

They really didn't say much at all. They cracked up laughing when Hunter started singing, but they were both quite afraid of the big macs, LOL. And it was obvious, too, that's why I told them they were on their own if they wanted to compare band numbers. :54:

What unbelievable neighbors! I bet the wildlife cops were rolling their eyes too after they saw your well cared for, beautiful, obviously loved flock. Not to mention, I'm sure they took one look at those beaks and decided matching the permit to the leg bands was probably not worth it:54:

I would have LOVED to have seen them check the band numbers! That would have been a viral video for sure.

Hahahaha, no worries, then!!! I'm sure Ripley and Niko could intimidate the unitiated, Whhaaatttt, they didn't want to check the bands? If that wasn't enough, I can't imagine anyone being able to resist Hunter doing her awesome "Jiggly Puff," routine!

Wow, a random visit of that nature with men in suits flashing badges has got to be an unnerving surprise while cooking dinner.

I had no idea certain states had these regulations for keeping exotics. Wow :52:. ...and some nice neighbors you have. Do you suspect who?

RavensGryf said:

... Do you suspect who?

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Not a clue, Julie. We've lived here for nearly 16 years, and know all our neighbors (quite well actually).

JerseyWendy said:

RavensGryf said:

... Do you suspect who?

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Not a clue, Julie. We've lived here for nearly 16 years, and know all our neighbors (quite well actually).

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That's most disturbing! . Never quite know who we can trust... Sad.

Wow Wendy! I am in complete shock! I can't imagine living someplace with those requirements. I personally don't keep my birds banded, but I guess you don't have any choice.

I'll tell you what though, I'm a big believer in what goes around comes around. It's obvious that whoever made that call wasn't doing it in concern for your well kept flock. That will eventually bite them in the rear.

I'm highly disappointed though that they didn't try to get a closer look at The Boys bands. That would have been extremely entertaining.

Nothing like that in CT, one state away! Game wardens actually have more leeway than the FBI or local police. They can come into your house on a whim, look through anything and... without a warrant. I would be getting to the bottom of who you can thank for this little visit!

RavensGryf said:

That's most disturbing! . Never quite know who we can trust... Sad.

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I've learned long ago not to trust anyone (with too much).

Whoever made that phone call (and I'm sure I'll eventually catch a whiff of who was behind it) must be pretty disappointed that nothing came of her/his complaint.

Madness, my friend! I mean, who does that?!? Some people can be so petty. As for the permits, I should probably look into getting some myself, then. [emoji33]

Anansi said:

Madness, my friend! I mean, who does that?!? Some people can be so petty. As for the permits, I should probably look into getting some myself, then. [emoji33]

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Stephen, to be perfectly honest, the ONLY reason all of mine are registered is because after bringing Niko home (remember, he came from a NJ store), Ursula (the store owner/his breeder) told me she would have to send her receipts in at the end of the year, so Fish & Wildlife would know I had him. So I registered him, Hunter and the Ekkis I had at that time all at once. I've made changes when I re-homed the Ekkis, got Sam, and then Ripley came also from a store, and I had to fill out all the paperwork again. Had it not been for the 'receipts', I probably would have never even bothered. :54:

Hmm..guess I'm lucky enough to not have anything like that here..KS has band birds on the ESA list..well..technically they're legal to own with a certain permit, for which the paperwork does not exist..ESA birds can't even be transported through the state. Can't say I would take kindly to anyone approaching my house with the belief that my family is not well cared for. I can be a bit of a spit fire at times and would gladly point them in the direction of local pets in dire need of their time and attention. Animal laws and animal control are severely lacking in this area.

Whew! Dodged a bullet maybe!

I know people have to register their dogs in this state, but a quick search yielded nothing for birds. My searches did show that you can't have a fox, bear, nor any cat over 30 pounds including domestic-domestic cross-breeds (which happen to get fat).