Court Takes Man’s Head: Wisconsin Driver Ordered to Return Roadkill Trophy

John Longo, 69, has been ordered by a Wisconsin court of appeals to surrender roadkill that he found on the side of the road in February 2008. It appears that even a dead deer on the side of the road requires a permit, which Longo did not have.

The 2nd District Court of Appeals reversed a lower court decision. Racine County Circuit Judge Allan B. Torhorst found him guilty in a bench trial, but only fined him $1 and ordered the DNR to give him a permit if the agency didn’t retrieve the head by Halloween 2008. The DNR appealed and the appellate court ordered Longo to turn over the trophy head immediately. To quote Loudon Wainwright, it was a ruling that “stunk to high heavens.” I still fail to understand the public interest in spending the money to litigate this case.

This is all news to me, but the black-booted DNR thugs will have to pry my cold dead fingers off my collection of dead flattened possums. By the way, exactly how much of a trophy is a deer head that you cut off roadkill?

Longo, to ease your loss I give you Loudon Wainwright Dead Skunk in the Middle of Road:

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