11-Yr-Old Girl Saves Baby Bird From Cat, Mom Gets $535 Fine

Today's shining example of "No Good Deed Goes Unpunished" comes from Fredericksburg, VA, where a young girl prevented the family cat from pouncing on a lost baby woodpecker and her mom ended up with a $535 ticket (and faces the possibility of jail time) for violating the Federal Migratory Bird Act.

Despite the fact that 11-year-old Skylar Capo actually saved the tiny lost woodpecker from a violent death, and then successfully released the bird back into the wild, a Virginia State Trooper was still dispatched to the Capo home where Skylar's mom was slapped with the $535 ticket.

Why? It all has to do with the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. 9News has the story:

For the 311 million (or so) Americans who are probably not familiar with the restrictions of this Federal regulation, it states the following:

The Migratory Bird Treaty Act makes it illegal for anyone to take, possess, import, export, transport, sell, purchase, barter, or offer for sale, purchase, or barter, any migratory bird, or the parts, nests, or eggs of such a bird except under the terms of a valid permit issued pursuant to Federal regulations.

(H/T - Fark.com)