If you plan on killing a blue heron with a golf club, don't do it in front of "bird lovers."
That's some advice from a 78-year-old Bullhead City man who was cited last week by the Arizona Game and Fish Department for doing exactly that.
Edwin Jess was at the RiverView RV Resort & Golf Course when
witnesses saw him driving a golf cart around a pond. He was following a
blue heron that was in the water feeding on fish. Jess, witnesses say,
then walked up to the heron and hit it in the neck. The bird collapsed
and Jess started beating it with the golf club until it was dead.
Witnesses told authorities the attack was unprovoked. When they confronted Jess about the beating, he just walked away.
Bullhead City police tell the Mohave Daily News that Jess was completely unremorseful in his initial interview with animal control officials.
He reportedly was laughing, smiling, and joking about the incident. He
even told authorities he shouldn't have killed the animal "in front of
those bird lovers."
It seems, once he realized he was in a bit of trouble, Jess tried to
justify his actions by saying he thought the bird was a statue. Then he
went a different route and said he thought the bird was sick. He finally
settled on the defense that he was tired of heron eating fish out of
the pond.
Jess' punishment for the bird-icide will be determined by Judge Tom Brady.
