Blackladder

Bonjour les gars!
My French neighbours have a 19 year old son who is highly unstable (possibly bipolar) and has now bought himself an airgun. At the drop of a pellet all of the small birds in our Little hamlet have disappeared. I have Heard the gun fired and reloaded, but not seen it since he hides behind his house. However, Another French neighbour has actually seen him fire at small birds on a feeding table. Now I happen to know that all forms of hunting with an air rifle are banned in France, and moreover that all passerines (small birds like robin, tit, chaffinch etc) are totally protected in France. Hence, this kid is risking losing his gun, as well as facing very stiff fines. All this said, I am pretty convinced this lad is potentially very dangerous, not only to us but foremost to his parents (whom he attacks verbally with the most hideous ferocity, eg to his mother some while ago he shrieked 'la semaine prochaine je te coupe la Gorge!' I don't want to risk the Life and limb of anyone in the hamlet, but I do most definitely want him stopped - in fact I'd like him put away. Any thoughts? The gendarmes or the mairie? That would certainly provoke him.
Blackie

crookesey

As I understand it the maximum power allowed is 6ft lb's and all hunting is banned, which is sensible because a 6ft lb airgun would not give a clean kill.

grannybunz

I too would be worried.

The action you take seems to me to depend on your relationships with the folk who might help.

For me it would be either the Marie or the local police officer - a lovely mature and discreet lady. I do know however that not everyone has the same good relationships in which case a good neighbour/friend who perhaps knows the parents as well.

I have a couple of other thoughts but I want to check with a local friend who knows more about these things.

dmu

Neighbours not declaring their income is one thing, but a neighbour deliberately killing birds is another and you should act. Go with the other neighbour to inform the parents that you intend to file a complaint at the Gendarmerie against their son, since it's a criminal offence. Take along photographic proof or the actual dead birds to justify your complaint.
I would also contact the LPO in Rochefort (French equivalent of the RSPB)
http://www.lpo.fr/
But I suspect that the Mairie would decline to take any action, since, AFAIK it doesn't have any jurisdiction concerning the Codes that your neighbour's son has violated.
Good luck, this sort of massacre makes my blood boil and the young man should be punished.

Chatter Static

The new laws which have come in to effect are 16 Joules = 12ft/lb

The topic was covered by TP and myself earlier in the year in this thread killing of wildlife and vermin is still banned mind.

I agree the person with the weapon will be treated independently of the parents as he is of legal age to purchase the gun but if they have given him permission to shoot wildlife on the property well it would change matters. It's quite drawn out before the Mairie will get involved in any form of dispute and the Gendarmerie only get involved if the law has been broken which in this case it has. It certainly helps when everyone joins together as it adds a certain validity to it I have also noticed that the Gendarmerie pay a lot more attention when the French do the talking ;-)

InVinoVeritas

Sounds like you and/or your French neighbour might get more than you bargain for if the lad thinks you "shopped" him. Possibly he'll get bored (especially if there are no more birds to shoot) and move onto some other "unpleasant" pastime. People I've known who have an air gun seem to get bored of it quite quickly. If you do decide to something then maybe setting up a camera to video the bird table would provide the necessary proof to the gendarmes?

Blackladder

Well, I got no help at all from the people at the Marie, 'just go over and reason with him' was all they said. But today I actually witnessed the kid shooting at small birds, fully in the open; and then he handed over the airgun to his dad who promptly took a pot shot at a bird perched in a nearby tree - what do you Think about that? I don't fancy making enemies of my neighbours, but it's time for some long-distance photography and these pics will be handed over to the Gendarmes!
Blackie

Chatter Static

How do the privacy laws stand on taking photos of your neighbours here? By taking photos of them are you potentially deviating off the straight and narrow yourself.

Just telling the Gendarmes about it should be enough for them to visit or printing off some written evidence that what he is doing is illegal and pulling the father to one side if he is approachable and showing him or fail that print it off and stick it through his letterbox in the dead of night with some sticky bold arrows pointing to the relevant text.

dmu

... For example,
http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/affich...Texte=20110208
particularly Article 3,
which I found via the LPO website.
I scrolled down to the end, but no sign of what the sanctions are. They must be mentioned in the Décret, Directive and Code cited.
Good luck!
P.S. You could contact the LPO, they have inspectors who could investigate - their head office (in the 17) can't be very far from you ...