In Jail Without Bail At 81 For Feeding Birds.

She Should Have Read The Sign And Followed The Law…

Many senior citizens like to find interesting ways to pass the time after they’ve retired. Some people like to go walking, and others might like to play checkers or chess with their friends. Some like to feed birds. In Florida, an 81-year-old woman named Mary Musselman went to jail for this pastime. Of course, it’s not quite so cut and dry. She was already on probation for feeding bears.

What The Law Says: Beware of What You Feed

Did you know that in many states in the United States, such as Florida, it is actually illegal to feed wild animals whether they are birds or bears? Many people do not know this, but ignorance of the law is no excuse. She had been warned about feeding bears and the problems that it could cause. One of the bears she had been feeding had gotten so accustomed to being around people that wildlife officers actually had to euthanize the bear. This causes them to become a danger to people that they meet, as they will always see them as a source of food. She’d been warned multiple times about this, and was arrested in January of 2014 for violating probation.

What Happened When Released From Jail… The First Time

When officers checked up on her after she was out of jail the last time for feeding bears, they found that she’d been feeding bread to crows. While this might seem like a small thing, given her past and the warnings that she’d received, it showed a pattern of behavior. They issued an arrest warrant for her, as this violated her court order that said she could not feed any wild animals.

Sadly, her attorney says that she suffers from dementia and Alzheimer’s, which means she really is not always fully in charge of her faculties. The attorney wants to have her placed in an alternate home. He suggested her brother’s house in Illinois. However, in Florida, it is still possible to hold someone even though they may be mentally ill. The judge ordered a full mental evaluation of Mary and would only come to a decision after finding out the details.

Jailed Without Bail

Her latest run in with the law seems relatively small given the number of other issues that happen in the state of Florida with seeming regularity. Keeping an elderly woman in jail without bail for feeding birds, even though it might have been against the law, just does not sit right with many people, particularly given the fact that the poor woman is likely mentally ill.

Learn the Laws

Whether you are in Canada, the United States, or anywhere else in the world, it really is a good idea to know at least the basics of the laws in those areas. This can help many people to avoid potential legal problems from activities they might engage in without realizing that they were breaking the law. Those who have older relatives may also want to check on them”¦ just to make sure that they aren’t out feeding the bears, or the birds for that matter.

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