Failing to ask the scripted movie question: "You guys aren't cops are you?" has landed some braggy hunters in hot water.
SF Gate shares excellent story about some dumb, misguided hunters. Seated on a plane near some plainclothes Fish and Wildlife officers who were flying home from training, two hunters disclosed they were carrying an illegal turtle skull. They had quite a collection of other unlawful trophies at home, and showed off videos. When they landed, the hunters knew enough not to display the skull near TSA agents but forgot to ask the question so many movies have taught us cops must truthfully answer, "are you guys cops?" before showing the skull to the cops.
According to the CDFW, the unsuspecting passengers disclosed they were transporting a sea turtle skull from the East Coast and admitted they had also unlawfully taken a mountain lion — a specially protected species in California that cannot be hunted or possessed even if it dies from natural causes. They also mentioned a relative in Napa County with taxidermic mountain lions, a wolverine and wolves, even showing a video of the "trophy room."
The officers asked to see the sea turtle skull after the flight landed, the CDFW said. The couple, aware of the legal implications, revealed it only once Transportation Security Administration personnel were out of sight. The skull belonged to a green sea turtle, a federally endangered species illegal to possess and transport in the United States.
SF Gate
The poachers, and some others they unwittingly exposed, pleaded guilty and are subject to fines and probation.
Previously:
• Lions eat poachers
• Cameras embedded in rhino horns to fight poaching
