May 8, 2012
By Eric Page, KWWL.com
SOLON (KWWL) – A Solon man has lost his hunting, fishing and trapping privileges for the next six years after pleading guilty to trapping violations, including trapping raptors.
Ronald Roy Hanus, 46, pleaded guilty to three counts of trapping and killing three red-tailed hawks, three counts of attempted take of raptors, three counts of trapping with exposed bait, four counts of failing to tag traps and one count of trapping fur-bearing animals without a fur harvester’s license.
The charges were filed after an eight month investigation in Tama County in which a DNR Conservation Officer use a leg-hold trap stapled to the top of a fence post. The DNR says the trap was designed to catch a perching raptor by the foot when it landed on the fence post. They say Hanus illegally used bait placed near the trap to lure the birds to the trap.