Encounter with Bird Poachers

We walked about 20 meters and heard Roxy begin to growl. Just ahead of us was a large Sheppard mix dog. It definitely wasn’t the typical hunting dog. Just beyond the dog were two guys sitting on the trail facing away from us. Above them, hanging on the barb wire fence, were small bird cages. These two were hunting birds to sell as pets.
I picked up Roxy (I was still unsure of the other dog) while John approached the guys. Roxy was barking, and wiggling, trying to get out of my arms to do her “job”. As soon as John walked towards to two Ticos, their dog scurried away with his tail between his legs. At this point I knew the dog was a big weenie and let I let Roxy go.

While John was talking with the boys I ask John if it’s OK if I open the cages and let the birds go. He said sure, why not. I went for the cage closest to me with the single bird. The outside of the cage had walls propped up with sticks. I flung away one of the sticks and realized this is how they trap the birds. I couldn’t see how to open that cage so I went back to the other one with the three birds. This cage didn’t have the trapping device and I immediately found the small brass clip holding the cage door shut. I reached for the clip and moved it up. Now, the closest guy saw what I was doing and said “No, no, precious”. He repeated himself while he came towards me. I reached for the clip again and snapped it open but at that moment chose not to open the door to free the birds. My feeling was if I let the birds go this guy might harm me, so I stepped back while he closed the latch and removed the cage.

They proceeded to gather a third cage and exited our property and cut through the Marines, probably to cross the Tabarcia River and walk home. I am pretty sure that the cage I tried to open had the birds used as bait to lure similar birds from the forest. I hope they don’t come back. Next time I might just have to let the poor birds go free. I also hope that these encounters we are having with various hunters are spreading the word that our place is now occupied and off limits. I never imagined that we would have to deal with these types of problems in Costa Rica. Yet another thing the relocation books do not mention…