Grackle Prankster

Texas Governor Rick Perry is somewhat of a prankster, apparently. According to this source, while attending college at Texas A&M, Perry "left a few grackles and a bunch of bird seed in a classmate’s dorm room over Christmas break. The birds left a nasty smelling mess." Being as how grackles and other blackbirds didn’t receive Federal protection until 1972, the same year that Mr. Perry graduated, I’ll give him a break on this one, though animal welfare activists might not be so kind.


I can’t be as forgiving of former Texas Governor and U.S. President George W. Bush who mistook a Killdeer, a protected shorebird, for a Mourning Dove on a very public hunt while campaigning for governor and killed it dead. Mr. Bush was issued a citation and fined $130 for the offense, the maximum penalty for this violation being $500.