A man who was found wandering the streets with an injured seagull in a plastic bag kept another in a cage on top of his freezer, a court has heard.
Bryan Maclennan used a slingshot to disable the birds then took them and their eggs home, Tain Sheriff Court was told.
His actions – which were described by a sheriff as “either peculiar or sinister” – were discovered after he was spotted acting suspiciously in Invergordon.
When police stopped the 34-year-old they discovered the injured bird in a plastic bag as well as ball bearings and slingshots.
That prompted police to search his home in Alness, where they found the second bird as well as six herring gull eggs in a basket.
Maclennan, of Firhill, Alness pled guilty to three charges under the Wildlife and Countryside Act when he appeared at Tain Sheriff Court today.
Bird in a cage on top of freezer
Fiscal depute Pauline Gair told the court: “At 9.30pm on May 29 police were in the main street in Invergordon when they observed the accused acting suspiciously.
“He was thereafter stopped attempting to discard an injured herring gull that was in a plastic bag.”
The court heard that police then visited and searched Maclennan’s home where they discovered a basket containing half a dozen herring gull eggs.
“An injured herring gull was found in a cage on top of the freezer,” Mrs Gair added.
The bird was subsequently handed over to animal welfare professionals and was treated and released, she said.
‘Peculiar or sinister’
Maclennan’s solicitor Neil Wilson entered pleas of guilty to two charges of intentionally or recklessly injuring a wild bird by striking it with a ball bearing from a slingshot or similar instrument and a third charge of taking or destroying eggs from a wild bird.
Mr Wilson told the court his client’s crimes were of an “inexplicable nature”.
No further explanation was given today as to why Maclennan did it.
Sheriff Gary Aitken said: “Why would you want to injure something and then take it home and keep it in a cage?”
He added: “It’s either peculiar or sinister.”
The sheriff called for a criminal justice social work report and deferred sentencing to the new year.
