You've got to wonder if Pro golfer Tripp Isenhour has a screw loose.
He's out taping a video called "Shooting Like a Pro," and doesn't like the noise a red-shouldered hawk is making during the shooting.
The crew is forced to do a retake because of the noise.
Isenhour loses it and starts hitting golf balls at the hawk.
He goes too far and kills the bird, a protected species.
Of course, he didn't mean to do it.
"According to court documents, Isenhour got upset when a red-shouldered hawk began making noise, forcing another take. He began hitting balls at the bird, then 300 yards away, but gave up."
"Isenhour started again when the hawk moved within about 75 yards, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officer Brian Baine indicated in a report."
"Isenhour allegedly said "I'll get him now," and aimed for the hawk. A few shots later, witnesses said he hit the hawk. The bird, protected as a migratory species, fell to the ground bleeding from both nostrils."
"In a statement Thursday, Isenhour said he did not intentionally hit the bird."
"As soon as this happened, I was mortified and extremely upset and continue to be upset," he said. "I want to let everyone know there was neither any malice nor deliberate intent whatsoever to hit or harm the hawk. I was simply trying to scare it into flying away. . . ."
"We ask that everyone accept my sincerest apology."
"Jethro Senger, a sound engineer, told the Associated Press, "He just kept saying how he didn't think he could have hit it, which I think is a stupid thing for a PGA Tour golfer to say. He can put a ball in a hole from hundreds of yards away, and here he is hitting line drives at something that's, I don't know, a couple hundred feet away?"
Senger said it seemed "basically like a joke" to the golfer."
I hope they throw the book at Isenhour.
He could get 14 months in jail.
But that probably won't happen.
I don't care if it was a protected species of a bird or a stray kitten.
He's a hothead.
And I wouldn't be surprised if, in the past, he hasn't done something like this before, in private.
Who knows what he might do sometime when a human being is making noise.
Read the entire article from the Lost Angeles Times
Golfer Isenhour Charged With Killing a Hawk With Ball ç here
Red-Shouldered Hawk
