GAME WARDEN REPORT

At Least He Can Take a Bath Again A Henderson County game warden received a call recently with information about a man who had posted a video of a small alligator in his bathtub on Snapchat. The individual was also a suspect in a local illegal hunting incident that took place in January involving a large fallow deer rumored to have been shot from the road. The warden made contact with the individual, who admitted to possessing the alligator and agreed to a meeting where he would hand it over. The warden recovered the three-foot-long alligator, which was later released back into the wild. The suspect also admitted to shooting the fallow deer from the road and told the warden where he had stashed the antlers. The antlers were recovered, and citations were issued for the offenses. Back-tracked and Busted A Tyler County game warden got a call from a hunting lease operator stating he had confronted several subjects trespassing on his lease. The warden responded and began cold trailing sets of ATV tracks leading off the property. After following the tracks through several adjacent properties the warden came upon some individuals in a wooded property who were working on an ATV. After waiting for backup from the county sheriff’s office, the warden made contact and initiated arrests for criminal trespass. During an inventory search, the warden discovered various narcotics and paraphernalia and additional charges were added. Cases are pending. Oh, Deer, Did You See That? While driving down I-35 near Belton, a caller reached out to let game wardens know he observed two live white-tailed deer fawns in the backseat of a Toyota Prius. The warden got the vehicle information and contacted its owner, who resided in Limestone County, and instructed him to meet at the sheriff’s office and turn over the two deer. Upon arrival, the warden seized the two fawns and noticed one had a hole in its ear due to a missing ear tag. The driver admitted that he worked at a deer breeder facility/ranch in Dimmit County, and that he took both fawns (one from within the breeder facility without a valid permit and the other from outside the facility) without permission from the ranch manager. The warden took the driver into custody for Triple T Violation (Trap/Transport/ Transplant Game Animal without permit-Class B Misdemeanor) and Possession of a Live Game Animal. The driver was booked into the Limestone County Jail. Wardens contacted the ranch manager at the breeder facility and received authorization to file additional charges on the subject for taking both deer without landowner consent. Cases are pending.