Bird missing from biology department
Joy Pavelski
Issue date: 2/28/08 Section: News
A stuffed red-tailed hawk is missing from the biology department display in Strosacker Science Center, said Associate Professor of Biology Tony Swinehart Wednesday. The display had been unlocked for rearranging after building construction.
"You can see one's missing and there's a little dust ring where it used to be," Swinehart said Tuesday.
Swinehart estimated the bird's value at $1,500. It is one of many collected by missionaries and Hillsdale College faculty since the 1800s. It is irreplaceable, particularly because the bird is an endangered species, most of which are now illegal to collect. To possess such a bird without the proper paperwork, Swinehart said, is a felony.
Swinehart said the bird disappeared between Friday, when he last saw it safely in its case, and Monday, when he walked by and noticed a large space in the top row of taxidermic animals. He e-mailed biology faculty, Director of Security Mike Wertz and the deans of men and women immediately.
The college will not yet involve local police, Wertz said Wednesday. Campus security is reviewing video tape from the building's entrance, and from that will decide whether to handle the matter internally or to prosecute.
Two or three years ago, Swinehart said, a juvenile bald eagle was stolen from the biology lab, placed in the now-sealed room beside the library students termed "the fishbowl," then found later in an off-campus house.
Apparently, that incident was a prank, one which damaged the eagle beyond repair.
That both stolen fowl are birds of prey and Hillsdale is often associated with eagles may suggest a pattern, Swinehart wrote in an e-mail to The Collegian Wednesday. Wertz said he's drawing no conclusions without more information.
"In the past, when these things have happened, it's turned out to be a trophy," Wertz said. "Even my house sometimes gets hit during rush week and pick up. Things happen, [but] we always get it back at the end of the year. That's what I'm hoping."
Both Wertz and Swinehart said they are more concerned about retrieving the bird than punishing the offender, who may not be associated with the college.
"It's unfortunate," Swinehart said. "You don't think those kinds of things happen at Hillsdale."
Hillsdale College Collegian 2008
"You can see one's missing and there's a little dust ring where it used to be," Swinehart said Tuesday.
Swinehart estimated the bird's value at $1,500. It is one of many collected by missionaries and Hillsdale College faculty since the 1800s. It is irreplaceable, particularly because the bird is an endangered species, most of which are now illegal to collect. To possess such a bird without the proper paperwork, Swinehart said, is a felony.
Swinehart said the bird disappeared between Friday, when he last saw it safely in its case, and Monday, when he walked by and noticed a large space in the top row of taxidermic animals. He e-mailed biology faculty, Director of Security Mike Wertz and the deans of men and women immediately.
The college will not yet involve local police, Wertz said Wednesday. Campus security is reviewing video tape from the building's entrance, and from that will decide whether to handle the matter internally or to prosecute.
Two or three years ago, Swinehart said, a juvenile bald eagle was stolen from the biology lab, placed in the now-sealed room beside the library students termed "the fishbowl," then found later in an off-campus house.
Apparently, that incident was a prank, one which damaged the eagle beyond repair.
That both stolen fowl are birds of prey and Hillsdale is often associated with eagles may suggest a pattern, Swinehart wrote in an e-mail to The Collegian Wednesday. Wertz said he's drawing no conclusions without more information.
"In the past, when these things have happened, it's turned out to be a trophy," Wertz said. "Even my house sometimes gets hit during rush week and pick up. Things happen, [but] we always get it back at the end of the year. That's what I'm hoping."
Both Wertz and Swinehart said they are more concerned about retrieving the bird than punishing the offender, who may not be associated with the college.
"It's unfortunate," Swinehart said. "You don't think those kinds of things happen at Hillsdale."
Hillsdale College Collegian 2008
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