Wait, What? It’s Illegal to Do This to Pigeon in Massachusetts

Massachusetts has no shortage of weird laws. As one of the oldest states in the country, lawmakers have had hundreds of years to compile some pretty strange rules and regulations, many of which might seem strange in a modern world.

I think it's fair to say that our founding fathers who took the time to try and regulate things like facial hair and false teeth, probably weren't thinking, I wonder if this will age well. Little did they know that by 2023, this funny thing called the internet would be riddled with laws of yesteryear that people tend to laugh at today.

In the state of Massachusetts, there is actually a law protecting an animal that some folks consider a rodent with wings, ah yes, the illusive pigeon. Not only is there legislature in place to protect the birds from people who might try to kill them, but more interestingly, there is a law that says you can't scare them either.

According to Massachusetts General Law, Chapter 266, Section 132, "Whoever wilfully kills pigeons upon, or frightens them from, beds which have been made for the purpose of taking them in nets, by any method, within one hundred rods of the same, except on land lawfully occupied by himself, shall be punished by imprisonment for not more than one month or by a fine of not more than twenty dollars, and shall also be liable for the actual damages to the owner or occupant of such beds."

Now protecting animals that are a natural part of our ecosystem is important, but personally, if a rodent bird comes at me while I'm trying to have lunch in the park, I'm gonna scare him off. Don't mess with my lunch.

If the authorities wanted to prosecute me to the fullest extent of the law, looks like I could end up in jail for up to a month, and pay a much more reasonable fine of $20.