Lonesome Dove: Texas Man Under Investigation For Eating Dove That Collided With This Home

One can certainly understand why Ryan Adams is a bit confused in Pflugerville, Texas. After a dove hit the side of his house and broke its neck, Adams decided to eat it. He proceeded to post a picture and the recipe on cooking the Texas white-winged dove on the Internet. The doves are killed in the thousands by hunters in the U.S. and Mexico during this season. However, because he did not shoot the dove himself with a license, he has found himself the target of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.


Texas Parks and Wildlife spokesman Steven Lightfoot said that Adams should not have eaten the bird but surrendered it to a wildlife official (though I find it a bit odd that such an official would send out a truck to collect one dead dove). Lightfoot insisted “It is illegal to possess any wildlife resource that has not been taken legally. By legal I mean there are certain means and methods… you have to have a hunting license and you have to have the appropriate weapon and ammunition.” It appears that the side of your house is not an approved weapon.

I was not able to find a regulation expressly prohibiting the eating of a covered animal that died from a non-hunting accident. Indeed, even some restaurants have been known to serve up roadkill as the mystery meat du jour.

An investigation is now in the field. The corpus delicti however proved too delicious. Instead, the investigators are relying on the pictures. It appears that even a finding that the dove was suicidal will not be a defense. Self-defense seems out of the question. You can apparently kill and eat other “nuisance fur-bearing animals, depredating hogs or coyotes.” Presumably, Adams could have waited for a coyote to eat the dove and then eat the coyote like a version of a Turducken — a Dovote.

What do you think about the rule on eating doves that die from natural causes? Should it be treated as a violation.

Source: CBS

37 thoughts on “Lonesome Dove: Texas Man Under Investigation For Eating Dove That Collided With This Home”

  1. The most dumbest law on the books. A kamakazi bird kills himself
    and you get arrested or issued a $300 plus citation for eating the damn bird.

    Go figure!

  2. Pete9999:

    Coincidently, I have that very same stereo phonograph in my house. It’s a piece of furniture in itself. Gotta like the old days.

  3. A few years ago, my partner and I spent a week in Alaska, at Denali. One of the interesting things we learned was there is a list kept that people actually sign up and, when a moose becomes road -kill, the first name on the list gets a phone call and they have, I believe it was an hour, to get to the site, field dress the moose and take it home. If the first person doesn’t want to do that, his/her name gets crossed off and the selection goes to the next name, and so on, until someone comes and gets the moose. Talk about your road-kill!

  4. Ok, I Googled the Bird song and came up with the lyrics:

    A-well-a, everybody’s heard about the bird
    Bird, bird, bird, b-bird’s the word
    A-well-a, bird, bird, bird, the bird is the word
    A-well-a, bird, bird, bird, well, the bird is the word
    A-well-a, bird, bird, bird, b-bird’s the word
    A-well-a, bird, bird, bird, well, the bird is the word
    A-well-a, bird, bird, b-bird’s the word
    A-well-a, bird, bird, bird, b-bird’s the word
    A-well-a, bird, bird, bird, well, the bird is the word
    A-well-a, bird, bird, b-bird’s the word
    A-well-a, don’t you know about the bird
    Well, everybody knows that the bird is the word
    A-well-a, bird, bird, b-bird’s the word
    A-well-a

    A-well-a, everybody’s heard about the bird
    Bird, bird, bird, b-bird’s the word
    A-well-a, bird, bird, bird, b-bird’s the word
    A-well-a, bird, bird, bird, b-bird’s the word
    A-well-a, bird, bird, b-bird’s the word
    A-well-a, bird, bird, bird, b-bird’s the word
    A-well-a, bird, bird, bird, b-bird’s the word
    A-well-a, bird, bird, bird, b-bird’s the word
    A-well-a, bird, bird, bird, b-bird’s the word
    A-well-a, don’t you know about the bird
    Well, everybody’s talking about the bird
    A-well-a, bird, bird, b-bird’s the word
    A-well-a, bird

    Surfin’ bird
    Bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb, aaah

    Pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa
    Pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-ooma-mow-mow
    Papa-ooma-mow-mow

    Papa-ooma-mow-mow, papa-ooma-mow-mow
    Papa-ooma-mow-mow, papa-ooma-mow-mow
    Ooma-mow-mow, papa-ooma-mow-mow
    Papa-ooma-mow-mow, papa-ooma-mow-mow
    Papa-ooma-mow-mow, papa-ooma-mow-mow
    Oom-oom-oom-oom-ooma-mow-mow
    Papa-ooma-mow-mow, papa-oom-oom-oom
    Oom-ooma-mow-mow, papa-ooma-mow-mow
    Ooma-mow-mow, papa-ooma-mow-mow
    Papa-a-mow-mow, papa-ooma-mow-mow
    Papa-ooma-mow-mow, ooma-mow-mow
    Papa-ooma-mow-mow, ooma-mow-mow
    Papa-oom-oom-oom-oom-ooma-mow-mow
    Oom-oom-oom-oom-ooma-mow-mow
    Ooma-mow-mow, papa-ooma-mow-mow
    Papa-ooma-mow-mow, ooma-mow-mow
    Well, don’t you know about the bird
    Well, everybody knows that the bird is the word
    A-well-a, bird, bird, b-bird’s the word

    Papa-ooma-mow-mow, papa-ooma-mow-mow
    Papa-ooma-mow-mow, papa-ooma-mow-mow
    Papa-ooma-mow-mow, papa-ooma-mow-mow…

  5. Darren was spot on to find the statute or rule pertaining to this case. If there is a court case the defendant and victim here ought to show up to court in Big Bird outfit and all his friends do likewise. Big Bird defendant should get up and read the statute and state that this is his affirmative defense. He did not kill the bird. The bird is the word. There is an old song from the fifties out there by that name.
    “The bird, bird, the bird is the word..
    Or dont you know , about the bird,
    Well everyone is talking about the Bird.”

    or sum such lingo.

  6. There’s the “spirit of the law,” and the “letter of the law.” There was an obvious lack of discretion employed by the Texas Lawman. Nothing new, however, lack of discretion by lawmen happen all the time…

  7. being texas maybe they meant the house didn’t have an up to date license.
    might explain how a dove ran into it.

  8. In Rockland County, New York, the parks and rec folks had imported a bunch of Canadian geese to pretty up the parks, but then regretted it when they were dirtying up the park benches. So they rounded them up and gassed them. GASSED THEM! It raised such a hullaballoo that the whole county was in an uproar and made them stop.

    Why didn’t they think of just hitting them geese with a house? :mrgreen:

  9. JT: >An investigation is now in the field.<

    REALLY??? So. If the investigators decide that the house was at fauly for the death of said bird, will they charge the house with capitol murder and execute it and perhaps charge Mr. Adams as an accessory? Oh wait….it IS Texas.

  10. Park and game ranger comes to his office.

    “What’ll I do today. Let check the net. First google “dove…..”,
    35 hits in my district alone. Wonder how much graft I can get today. Easily enough to buy thet venison side my neighbor is offering. I love this job, much better than chasing buffalo like my folks used to do.”

  11. I think I’ll buy me a squab, kin to quail?, and grill it, video it aside a bottle of exclusive wine, and utube it under the name: “Ringdove???”

    Then we’ll see what happens here.

  12. Gyges,

    First we tried an owl silohuette, and the birds attacked it.
    Then we tried a hawk one, and the birds laughed at it.

    Then we put up a chinese paper moon used to celebrate eating crayfish in August. Haven’t seen a bird since.
    Except the drunk ones, or the ones chasing rivals in courting time.

  13. Thanks onlooker! Sorry to disappoint you but I am an independent contractor making my living by helping large & small companies IT more secure. I have a very broad range of clients – including some state & federal agencies, Fortune 50 companies & a couple of mom-n-pops.

    I understand that reasonableness and an open mind are difficult for some people to deal with, I hope you get better soon

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