Man Allegedly Shoots Squirrel With Bow And Arrow For ‘Giving Him A Look’
“I took it personal,” he said, according to a criminal complaint.
A man from Staten Island, New York City , is facing animal cruelty charges after prosecutors say he killed a squirrel with a bow and arrow for a patently absurd reason.
Jonathan Mangia told investigators that he shot and killed the animal on Tuesday because it “gave him a look,” according to a criminal complaint that DNAInfo obtained. He reportedly said he had thrown rocks at the squirrel to scare it away from his home.
“Then the squirrel gave me a look and I took it personal,” Mangia said, according to the complaint.
Mangia also allegedly told police that after being shot, the squirrel was able to flee and remove the arrow from its own body, according to the New York Daily News.
It’s unclear whether that’s true, but an environmental conservation officer spotted the animal dead, covered in blood, and also noticed blood near the window of Mangia’s property, Staten Island Live reports.
The New York Police Department’s 122nd Precinct tweeted about the arrest, referring to it as “illegal hunting” and stating “save archery for the range.”
Great job PO Kosinski & Pollakis along w @ NYSDEC Ofcrs arresting the # SquirrelHunter . Save archery for the range # IllegalHunting # DEC
Officers charged Mangia with torturing and injuring animals, reckless endangerment and violating a state Environmental Conservation Law. He is due to appear in court next on June 27.
Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated that the man used a crossbow.
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Heck, where I live, squirrels are a frickin nuisance. I must have killed about 50 of them since I've moved up here.
Heck, where I live, squirrels are a frickin nuisance.
I have the same problem with them here, Aeonpax.
For the first few years I was here I tried all sorts of things to try and just keep them away from my shack but nothing worked so after awhile I took to grabbing my shotgun anytime I hear the blasted tree rats chewing on the walls.
I only have a heart beat or two to get a shot off, (after opening the door and before they can jump down to scat back into the woods), but I'll end up keeping 7 out of 10 of the furry buggers from ever coming back.
I call it Hillbilly skeet shooting. (smile)
That's a shame...
That's a shame...
That I've ending up just shooting them or because of all the damage they've done around here? (smile)
Yeah, I treat them like rats, after all, they are rodents.
I've had that happen, and I do catch and release.
You don't live on 54 acres of mostly wooded land.
Squirrels have a right to live and thrive. They aren't out here in the desert (and I wish they were), but I grew up in Michigan and they were everywhere and were never a problem except I had to build my bird feeders in a way that they couldn't steal the bird food. Other then that they were fun to watch play. My ex-brother-in-law (who is a lot bigger and stronger then me) many years ago when I was riding with him swerved his car to try to hit one and I smacked him upside the head! I said what the fuck did that squirrel ever do to him! So leave it the fuck alone! Of course I knew I could get away with it because I knew he would never do anything to make his older sister (my wife) mad. But still, come on. The squirrel was just trying to get across the road!
I never, ever kill anything at all, that doesn't have to be killed. Ever. Not even a bug.
A lot of you are overreacting by using big weaponry on small squirrels . If you really want to keep them away you can buy a dog "scat-away" device . It uses a high frequency sound [above human hearing ] to give them an unpleasant sensation . I once built my own such device ... but it wasn't for a squirrel problem .
Something in common. Who woulda thunk it?
I should point out that such a device would be painful to your pets if you have any . At that time I had no pets ...
Yeah I know, so I don't use one.
I've never seen a squirrel here in China, even when climbing mountains or walking through forested areas. Mind you, I've noticed that the Chinese eat damn near everything they can chew and swallow, so it doesn't surprise me.
There are some people up here who hunt and eat squirrel. I've seen it. I have no problem field dressing a deer but I don't kill and eat squirrel
They taste awful.
I have no problem field dressing a deer
I killed one deer. When I was 14 which was the first year in Michigan a person could get a license to hunt a deer. It was a very young prong horn buck. I almost didn't notice him. I was sitting on a tree stump at my Uncle Ron's with a 12 Gauge Shotgun with deer slug loads. I watched him for what seemed forever and then I raised my gun and shot him. It was a bad shot in his belly. My Uncle Ron heard the shot and ran over and saw he was still alive, so he pulled his head back and slit his throat and the blood went all over the snow. I watched as the life left his eyes slowly until there was nothing more. I kept staring for a long time. I could not accept what I had just done. I had killed something beautiful that was not threatening me and that I had no reason to harm. Even today I feel terrible about doing it. Even today I feel sorry for taking his life. I will never ever settle or forgive myself or justify that in my mind.
I have never hunted since and I never will.
I have never hunted, and my shooting was limited to target-shooting only. Although I was the school champion marksman I never had any desire to point a gun at anything living, and besides, I've never owned a gun. When I was little, I did make a toy gun out of two pieces of wood glued together and a nail for a trigger. My parents would never buy me a toy gun.
My dad was a hunter and we ate everything he killed... In fact, one of my earliest memories is of Daddy, cleaning a squirrel in the back yard. I'm more like my Grandpa. Grandpa was a good hunter and hunted anything that they could use as food. He quit hunting completely after his oldest daughter died of a brain tumor and realized that life was too precious to waste.
I agree with him.
I realize that squirrels can really do some damage to a home, but there are ways to squirrel-proof your home, (look up Integrated Pest Management, about prevention of wildlife pests). Squirrels really do a lot of good in the world, planting things... I well remember that I bought over 150 crocus bulbs one year and the squirrels evidently loved the bone meal I put around the bulbs, because the next spring, there were crocuses everywhere, except my own yard.... Oh well, they were pretty. I had a fun time explaining to all my neighbors what happened, and trying to get them to leave them alone... Sigh!
I can respect that.
I wonder why some horror movie maker hasn't made a flick yet about millions of angry squirrels overrunning some small hamlet in northern Wisconsin or Michigan or Minnesota , with the beleaguered townsfolk gathered in the general store discussing how to fight back against the rodent horde. An Aeon like character can be seen blasting away at the squirrelly filth with a machine gun. I think it would be fun.
Humans, beware the squirrel apocalypse.
I had a problem with armadillo's for awhile. Simple solution is ''dried coyote urine'' sprinkle some of it around and the armadillo's are gone.
Must be a similar product for squirrels.
Squirrels launch attacks in California. Nevada, Oregon and Arizona on full military alert.
They are among us, beware.