"Birds’ eggs have an erotic aura all of their own"

December 19, 2017 10:59 AM

As ornithology became a more rigorous science in the 1800's, egg collecting, or oology, took off as both a hobby and a lucrative career. Egg collection is now a dying hobby – it has been illegal since 1954 - but egg collecting is still a thriving crime. [via]
posted by jessamyn (6 comments total)

Gonshaw was jailed for six months by Thames magistrates after admitting 10 offences under the Wildlife and Countryside Act. He had been jailed for similar offences in 2002 and twice again in 2005.

Police are now applying for an anti-social behaviour order against Gonshaw. He could be imprisoned for five years and fined £20,000 if he offends again.

This is his fourth offense. Why wasn't he slapped with an asbo before? And why wait until *the fifth time* to fine him and imprison him for more than six months?

As much as I hate the criminal justice system in the US, other countries' systems doesn't seem to work on those people who are completely unrepentant. And as far as I can tell this man is just collecting, rather than making his living selling, the eggs.
posted by elsietheeel at 11:16 AM on December 19, 2017 [3 favorites]

Man, I hate those guys. Put GPS ankle monitors on them and let the RSPB track them on their website.
posted by pracowity at 11:32 AM on December 19, 2017 [1 favorite]

Ugh. So sad and pointless.
.
for all those birds never hatched.
posted by fiercecupcake at 12:17 PM on December 19, 2017 [3 favorites]

I knew that it was enough of a thing at one time for Saki to have used it as an element of one of his humorous short stories but kind of assumed that it had fallen out of fashion. But yeah, screw that guy.

Mark Thomas, investigating officer for the RSPB, said Gonshaw was "one of the most prolific wild bird egg collectors in the UK".

The adjective you're looking for, Mr. Thomas, is not "prolific", which is a word which carries positive connotations of fruitfulness and productivity, it's "destructive". Gonshaw's behavior is the opposite of prolific.
posted by Nerd of the North at 12:29 PM on December 19, 2017 [4 favorites]

...it's also funny 'cuz jessamyn dislikes eggs as food, generally. On the egg spectrum, eggs as part of a recipe are okay all the way down to french toast. Anything more eggy than french toast is off the menu.
posted by not_on_display at 8:39 PM on December 19, 2017

Still reading my egg book. Today I learned that no one really knows how or why colored eggs are colored. That is, they know what the actual pigments are, but not really how they are applied or why.
posted by jessamyn at 6:47 AM on December 21, 2017 [3 favorites]