I figure all the talk of “extreme” went to the lad’s head, and eager to jumpstart his fly tying materials collection he knocked over the natural history museum as an act of “extreme feather collecting.”
At the time of the theft it was postulated that one of the markets these rare birds carcasses might be headed for was the Atlantic Salmon Full Dress Featherwing crowd, whose morals regarding rare feathers are non-existent.
We may never know his intent, but the 22 year old perpetrator has been apprehended in England, with nearly 300 rare bird carcasses recovered.
To make matters worse he was an American …
… that smelled like moth balls.
Kinda like a celebrated bead-head nymph tyer knocking over a Hobby Lobby.
Only not.
“the Atlantic Salmon Full Dress Featherwing crowd, whose morals regarding rare feathers are non-existent.”
I thank you very much. I agree some of us will go to extreme lengths to get the “real deal”, but most, like me, are perfectly OK with the existing substitutes. (Not that I tied a salmon fly in recent years, but….)
Sad story, I meet the guy who did this a few years ago. Just a kid, but tons of talent.
http://www.midcurrent.com/news/2010/11/british-say-rare-feather-thief.html
Its a shame to see that. To hit a museum like that and expect to make a profit off it, sad. Whats even worse is that if he got away with it he probably would have made fortune. An American to….geeeez.
Good old American ingenuity!