A man trying to smuggle 19 raptor eggs in a belt around his waist was tripped up by security at London Heathrow airport because two of the eggs hatched.
The 56 year old man was enroute from South Africa to Ireland on Tuesday, June 26 when the presence of adorably cuddly birds of prey made themselves known.
Credit: UK Border Force
Credit: UK Border Force
The eggs were South African “eagles, hawks and kites” protected by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species. The man was arrested but then released on bail pending additional investigation.
I literally spit on my screen as I laughed reading this headline.
I can see why he would be released. It’s intuitively obvious to the casual observer that he was unaware of the eggs, and only discovered them when a couple happened to hatch.
Don’t tell me. The chicks looked up at the man and said “Are You My Mother?” (referencing PD Eastman’s book by the same name).
So would that make those two birds stool pigeons?
Dennis Nedry?