Saw something disturbing today...

I figured Hojo might know;
I went to Apple Hill this morning, High Hill Ranch in particular, for a hot and fresh apple fritter.  While sitting at the little pond where fishing is allowed on a per-fish basis, I saw the guy who runs the fishing shack and his wife try to spook Canadian geese off the pond.  He was casting a line with a rod / reel that had a bobber and a hook on it.  Well, he snagged one of the geese and attempted to reel it in.  All the geese took off and he tried to reel the goose in.  It was really panicked and it's mate kept swinging around, also in distress because it's mate was hollering so much.  The line broke about 10' back and the goose swam away.  The goose could not fly.  The guy got a heavier line and with a bobber he did it again!  He snagged that goose and reeled it in, then cut several feathers off the wing that had the hook in it.  When he released the goose, it again could not fly.  Now it's wings trimmed on one side caused it to be lop sided.  It could run though.  So the guy went after that goose AGAIN! 
I approached him and asked him what he was doing.  He told me he was trying to get the geese off the pond.  I told him that I thought it was illegal to harass wildlife.  I told him that I was pretty sure a goose was considered a game animal and his capturing one on purpose, three times, probably was a violation of the fish and game laws. 

So, did he violate the law?  Should I have reported him to the 800 Cal Tip phone #?  That goose isn't gonna fly for quite some time and maybe never if it's wing is broken.  I didn't have my camera with me, but a couple other folks were taking photos. 

 

Legal or not I'm not sure it's definately unethical.
I would have called cal tip and the owner of the buisness and and local pd. This guy sounds like a piece of shit just my opinion

might also call the local news and ask them to do a story on it so it won't happen anymore LOL!

Yep, harassing and mutilating wildlife is not legal.

http://www.norcalkayakanglers.com/index.php?topic=56145.0

No mention of mutilating game but hunting is allowed during non-breeding season

Well there ya go!  I guess it's legal as long as he doesn't out and out kill 'em. 

Your neighbor is allowed to scare resident geese away from his property with non-lethal means at any time.

Ok geese season....Closed.
I'd say he was trapping not hunting.
I'd still raise hell about it.

I would post it up on their Facebook site https://www.facebook.com/highhillranch

Legal or illegal, he sounds like a douche bag and I'd personally protest with my dollar. I was planning on taking my nephew there this fall to catch his first fish (he's two and a half) and do the pumpkin routine but I'll be thinking twice about going there now having heard this. There's undoubtedly half a dozen places up there that you could get your fritters from in the future.

Odd that they encourage the white domestic geese and chase off the Canadians though.

That is true chattich, the white ducks and geese he was feeding grain to, the Candadians he was catching with a rod and a line.  The ducks knew what was coming and just hunkered down to wait for the game to commence. 

This wasn't his first goose rodeo either; he had the routine down with his wife; she's shoo them into the middle of the pond from the far side so he could cast his line into them.  Otherwise, they could stay out of casting range.  Man!  I wish I had a video camera on 'em.  I'd bet this happens every day from the looks of it. 

When we left, those geese were all sitting out in the apple orchard about 1/4 a mile from that pond.  I bet they go back when they know he's not there.  Probably sunset or so. 

There is an early canada goose season in sept. Maybe he will allow archery goose hunting early morning before people start showing. The geese can be killed clean instead of stressed and injured.

I will volunteer 

Wow, oh WOW!! 
I can't believe the reply I just got from High Hill Ranch.  Before posting here, I went on line to the High Hill website and found a tab labeled. "Contact Us"  So I did.  I wrote this to them;

Hi, Today, 8-29-14, I was at High Hill by the pond. The guy who runs the pond was harassing the geese. He and his wife used a fishing pole, bobber and hook. They snagged a goose and so wounded it that the goose could not fly. He again snagged the goose and cut feathers off the goose's wing, causing an imbalance between the left/right wing so it won't be able to fly for some time now. The goose's mate was flying around in distress of it's mate. Then the same guy, using a 2nd guy with a pole went after this same goose again after already catching it once to damage it's wing and again to cut the feathers. I'm here to tell you that harassing California wildlife is a crime. This is a game animal and there are laws to both protect the animal; property of the state of California, and for the management of game with hunting laws that include the taking of game. I want a reply from you by Monday or I am going to contact the Dept. of Fish and Wildlife with what I saw and press charges. There were also 2 other people who witnessed this and took photos. I have their contact information as they too were very upset with the way this guy, his wife and the second guy were causing so much harm to the wild goose and all the other geese. Even though these animals were on a private pond, they are state property and are protected as such. This is not a small matter. Regards, Jerry Heitman

I didn't know at that time if what they did was a violation of any laws, but neither did they. 
Today I got an e-mail back. However, the person who wrote back to me didn't delete the back-and-forth e-mails within the High Hill folks, so I got to see what their initial response was as well as their tactic to handle me.  Here is what they meant for me to see;

Hi Sir,
I do have a letter to tell you what about what happened at the pond with the geese. I just need more time to type it up.
Thank you
Stephenie

Stephenie sounds like maybe she got to the bottom of this and is forming up a reply, but in the meantime, wanted to let me know by Monday that she was on it.

But...
Stephenie didn't edit the e-mails between my original one and this one she sent me.  Attached to her e-mail was this;

On Saturday, August 30, 2014 10:37 AM, High Hill Ranch <[email protected]> wrote:


Michelle,
Let's try to resolve this by Monday. I don't want any problems for the ranch and I care about the animals as well. Al and Cindy are to nice to hurt anything and as far as his other witnesses go we can ask him to have whatever evidence they have and get them in trouble for taking photos without the knowledge of those involved! Isn't that against the law? You have to let people know they are being video taped and if you didn't you can be sued so photos might be the same.? People are soooo stupid!! Al and Cindy are not animal haters!!
Let me know what I can do to help so this person does not cause problems for Al and and Cindy and the ranch.
Thank you
Stephenie

Sent from my iPod

On Aug 30, 2014, at 10:04 AM, michelle1jade <[email protected]> wrote:

I just spoke with Cindy and just as I knew without even being there myself because I know AL and Cindy would never intentionally harm an animal there is an explanation , Cindy is writing a letter of exactly what took place and she is horrified someone would think she and AL would do something like that ! They would never abuse an animal ... that's disgusting and if this man was so upset at what he believed he was witnessing ( along with the other people he refers to ) why didn't they intervien in the moment ? I would have ! If I was witnessing abuse I would step in and stop it not write a threatening email after the fact ... I would have saved the geese right then and there !

So, Michelle spoke to Al and Cindy, evidently the couple who run the fish shack on the pond.  She sent that to Stephenie.  Stephenie then replied back looking for a way to get anyone with photos in trouble and called me stupid.  Well,  I may be. 

So I replied back to Stephenie with this;

After reading the replies, I can tell you the man harmed the goose.  He hooked it with a fish hook and the goose could not fly.  Ask him yourself if the goose could fly.  He got a heavier weight fishing line and captured the goose again, this time cutting off several feathers.  Now the goose was not only crippled too much to fly, it's wing was now trimmed and will not be able to fly until they grow back in. That's assuming the crippled wing heals.  He took this line, with the feathers and tried for a third time to catch the goose. By this time, his wife went into the shack, probably knowing that what they were doing was harming the goose.  On this third time, the guy enlisted the help of another man, Hispanic by looks, who would try and herd the goose to the first man.  Eventually the goose escaped to the woods and they left it.  This goose's mate was circling, and distressed for it's mate.  Geese mate for life.
If these folks deny that this didn't take place EXACTLY as I have described, I am quite willing to come back to High Hill and meet with them along with management to discuss in person.  I'd like to hear them deny directly to my face.

The reason I did not confront this man at the scene is because I came to High Hill to enjoy my apple fritter and a cup of coffee.  When I told my wife, enough is enough, I'm going to stop him, she insisted we leave and headed to the car.  I'm sure she would have driven off without me, so I joined her, came home and sent you the original contact.

So, Stephenie, calling me stupid wasn't a very nice thing to do. "People are soooo stupid!!"I never said Al and Cindy are animal haters.  I said his actions are what I witnessed and have written here exactly as they happened.

I am willing to meet with your management any time this week.  You may contact me here, via e-mail or call my home at 530-626-9698.

Also, ask the woman, Cindy I think you are calling her, about the woman who asked her why she was trying to make the geese 'dance'?  She'll remember.  That is the woman with the camera who came over to me, asking me if what we were seeing was right.  I assured her it was not right and her photos could prove it if necessary. 

The web is filled with videos of people caught on film.  Just check youtube.  Permission is not needed.  The fact you care more about hiding and protecting these two than resolving the actions they did, speaks volumes.  You are trying to get the people who took the photos in trouble??!!  " ask him to have whatever evidence they have and get them in trouble for taking photos ".

Regards,
Jerry Heitman

Looks like maybe Cindy is working on a letter to account for her side of the story.  It also looks like Stephenie, a High Hill representative, is looking for a way to intimidate anyone with photos from releasing them with a threat and it also looks like Stephenie thinks I'm stupid. 

I'll be interested in seeing what Cindy says took place, although I played my cards too soon and should have waited to see what lie she would put in a letter first.  I'm sure Stephenie will tip her off to be more honest. 
Oh well, I've been called worse and just the fact they are jumping up at High Hill over my contact, and I'm sure more now that I got the unedited e-mails as a reply, is enough to satisfy me that they'll be more considerate how they treat live animals. 

Don't get me wrong, I'm a hunter.  I hunt geese every season.  However, I do my best to dispatch them humanly and within all the laws of the land regarding my contact with the animals. 

Epic fail! Who is stupid for not editing emails? That is hilarious.

Did you reply to her with all the back-and-forth? I bet she pee'd in her pants.

 

Keep us posted Jerry.