Hunter poisons over 20 hawks and eagles that were killing his game, gets away with only a day in jail

A Virginia hunter was sentenced to only one day in prison after he poisoned and killed over 20 young hawks and bald eagles. He wanted to kill the ducks in the area, according to authorities. But the predatory birds were instead attacking the ducks. So he decided to kill them all.

Despite the massacre, William Custis Smith escaped with a light punishment - a day in prison and a $9,800 fine. He said in his statement that the red-shouldered hawks and bald eagles were "encroaching" on his duck hunting impoundment, as per court documents.

“He’s a big duck hunter, and he was in the process of trying to really get it going," Virginia Conservation Police Master Officer Brian Bratton said of Smith in a statement, saying several ducks were entering his compound.

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He wanted to kill the ducks, but instead, the hawks and eagles were attacking them. Bratton added, “He was killing the hawks and eagles because they were killing all the ducks.”

He poisoned the birds using banned insecticide

The Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources said that Smith used rotting fish heads to poison the birds by adding the insecticide carbofuran to them. He also set up pole traps which snap a bird's legs.

The police received an anonymous tip and raided his premises. Right then, they found a "fresh carcass of a juvenile bald eagle" which was taken as evidence. They also installed a "plot watcher camera" near the illegal pole trap and saw several birds getting caught and killed. One of the birds struggled for seven hours, and Smith killed it with a pole, according to court documents.

The insecticide carbofuran was found in the bald eagle on which a necropsy was conducted. Notably, it was banned in 2008 because it was found to be extremely toxic for humans.

Bratton said that the insecticide works extremely fast, and any animal or bird poisoned with it "dies with whatever they’re eating still in their claws."

Smith has admitted to poisoning the birds and handed the leftover poison to officials. Violating the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act can lead to a fine of $100,000 and jail for up to one year, according to the US Fish and Wildlife Service.

According to VDWR, Smith was offered a plea deal. He has been ordered to pay $9,800 in restitution, serve 24 months’ probation, 50 hours of community service, and spend one day in jail.