11-year old girl saves woodpecker, now faces jail time

This is exactly the result of the regulatry Kraken that has been unleashed on the American populace. A billion rules entrenched in the bureaucracy that nary any ordinary American is aware of. But behind every corner, and in this case walking down every store isle, is a moral busybody ready to sack you with a fine and jail time for almost nothing at all. Via memeorandum: Woodpecker-Saving Daughter Costs Mom $500, Possible Jail Time

From the accompanying article:

Eleven-year-old aspiring veterinarian, Skylar Capo, sprang into action the second she learned that a baby woodpecker in her Dad's backyard was about to be eaten by the family cat.

...Skylar couldn't find the woodpecker's mother, so she brought it to her own mother, Alison Capo, who agreed to take it home.

But on the drive home, the Capo family stopped at a Lowes in Fredericksburg and they brought the bird inside because of the heat. That's when they were confronted by a fellow shopper who said she worked for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

"She was really nervous. She was shaking. Then she pulled out a badge," said Capo.

The problem was that the woodpecker is a protected species under the Federal Migratory Bird Act. Therefore, it is illegal to take or transport a baby woodpecker. The Capo family says they had no idea.

So they let the woodpecker go in the same place from whence it came and all was well, But...

...roughly two weeks later, that same woman from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service showed up at Capo's front door. This time, Capo says the woman was accompanied by a state trooper. Capo refused to accept a citation, but was later mailed a notice to appear in U.S. District Court for unlawfully taking a migratory bird. She's also been slapped with a $535 fine.

And faces jail time. Isn't that lovely? If the little girl had only let the cat eat the endangered bird...

More from The Cato Institute, Moonbattery, Daily Pundit and The Daley Gator

UPDATE: Girl's lemonade stand shut down

Police closed down a lemonade stand in Coralville last week, telling its 4-year-old operator and her dad that she didn't have a permit.

An officer told Abigail Krutsinger's father Friday that she couldn't run the stand as RAGBRAI bicyclers poured into Coralville.

A city ordinance says food vendors must apply for a permit and get a health inspection.

The government refuses to keep terrorists from crossing our borders, but thank goodness they are protecting us from 4-year old girls and their darned lemonade.

UPDATE #2: Via moonbattery: Cats Are Enemies of the Planet

Bad news for pet owners — cats have been denounced by the moonbats at Mother Jones as enemies of the planet: