Tough times in South Texas

[Pablo]

Chris,

Great story and fantastic photography!!

Thanks for posting this...

Pablo

[synoptic]

Does anyone have a cite to this law? A quick search through the statutes revealed Parks & Wildlife Code section 62.0031, which could potentially be what y'all are discussing. But, if someone knows where the law is, I would rather avoid an in depth reading of the Texas statutes to determine whether this is or is not the proper statute.

Thanks!

After looking a little more and reading the above posts again, I am pretty confident that Parks & Wildlife Code section 62.0031 is in fact what y'all are referring to. I just don't see anything in there, nor in the definition of hunting (s 1.101), that would include photography or even "shooing" an animal off the road. I see how grabbing it and moving it is potentially illegal if the cop is pissy and your lawyer is no good, but not the rest. There are very few cases actually citing these statutes, and little reference to them in the legislative materials. Does anyone have any sources to suggest otherwise (besides "The police, who don't really know the law anyway, told me so...")? Now I am genuinely curious about this.

[sandboa]

Jeremy,

The new law prohibits "hunting" along a road or right-of-way.

The problem is that "hunting" has been interpreted in the past in such a way that someone picking up an animal and carrying it off the road can be viewed as hunting, even if their intention was to move it out of harm's way.

In my opinion, there is a certain undercurrent of bitterness/anger among the herper communiity about this law and this is the source of many of the sarcastic comments about not helping things off the road.

As far as I know, no one has been ticketed for this law even though many people are flagrantly violating it by looking for reptiles on the roads and right-of-way. The joke among herpers is that they are looking for invertebrates (which aren't covered by this law).

Chris