Birds Found Slain at Park in Costa Mesa

Michelle Berger stood over the large white carcass, distraught and perplexed.

“I can’t believe he’s dead,” Berger, 44, said. “I’ve known him since 1987.”

On Sunday, the mottled goose she called Bozie and two other birds were found dead, apparently shot by vandals, in Costa Mesa’s TeWinkle Memorial Park. A fourth fowl, a duck, was severely injured and had to be euthanized at an animal hospital.

For years, Berger, a Costa Mesa office worker, and other animal lovers have tended to the multitude of geese, ducks and egrets that take advantage of the ponds at the park near the southern edge of the city.

“I’ve been in tears,” said Debbie McGuire, a manager at Wetlands and Wildlife Care Center of Orange County who was called to the scene early Sunday. “There is no game in shooting these birds. They can’t even fly. They were probably approaching [the shooter] thinking they were going to get some food and were shot.”

Sunday’s killings were the third such incident in the park in three years.

In two attacks one week in 1997, seven of the park’s resident birds were shot to death and three injured with pellet guns. One of the birds killed Sunday, Leo, survived one of the previous attacks.

“We took him to the hospital and it took him nearly a month to recover,” Berger said. “Now he’s dead.”

Police said they would increase patrols of the area, but finding the culprits will be difficult.

Without witnesses, “the chances of finding someone are just slim,” said Costa Mesa Animal Control Officer Larry Cyre. Such acts of animal cruelty are rare, the 15-year veteran added.

“In the past, there have been very few incidents” countywide, Cyre said. “It can be fishermen tired of the birds interfering with the fishing, or children shooting the animals out of boredom. You can call it boredom, but I think it is some kind of personality defect.”

A sign posted at the park says killing or injuring the fowl is a federal crime punishable by up to a $5,000 fine and six months in jail. If caught, the shooters could also face local charges of animal cruelty.

McGuire, who took the injured duck to All Creatures Care Cottage animal hospital in Costa Mesa, said the bird had large entry and exit wounds and a shattered leg, which suggested a fairly powerful weapon.

“It is just totally malicious,” she said.

The exact cause of death will not be known until necropsies are performed in the next few days, Cyre said, adding that the animals might have been shot with anything from a slingshot to a firearm.

A fifth bird, a duck, was found floating in the lake shortly after animal control officers departed with Leo and Bozie wrapped in plastic bags. Berger said she would continue to look for dead or injured birds.

Five fishermen found the floating carcasses early Sunday. They pointed them out to Sandi Duda, another resident who helps tend to the birds. She called Berger, who contacted authorities and McGuire.

“People love these birds,” said Duda, 43, at one point hugging a goose named Romeo. “They have names.”