A 77-year-old man who lives in the San Luis Valley has pleaded guilty to 10 misdemeanors after Colorado Parks and Wildlife said he put out poison that claimed the lives of five bald eagles, a coyote, a fox, magpies, crows and ravens.
Local rancher John Divine told wildfire officers that he put out the poison because coyotes were killing his sheep.
This is the culmination of a more-than-year-long investigation that began in January 2017, when a Colorado Parks and Wildlife officer got a call from a man who found parts of a sheep in a culvert that appeared to be slathered with poison.
Seven dead magpies were found nearby. When the officer came back the next day, he noticed tire tracks, more dead sheep and another dead magpie.
This prompted him to set up a game camera, according to the news release.
That game camera would capture a truck, later revealed to be Divine’s, coming to the area. When wildfire officers came to his house, he told them he was putting antifreeze on the sheep to stop coyotes.
Divine is also accused of telling officers he had only baited one spot and taking the officers to a different spot than the one where the game camera had been set up.
When he was confronted about this, Divine admitted to lying and paid a $362.50 fine.
A few days later, a sick bald eagle was found a mile away from one of the bait sites.The carcasses of two more eagles, a coyote and a red fox were also found, as was another dead eagle.
Two other dead eagles were found later that month.
An autopsy revealed those eagles were killed by a pesticide that had apparently been put out by Divine.
A few months later, Divine was served with a citation and new charges.
