A Police Camera Monitoring a Nest Spotted a Crime

Illinois police set up a camera to keep an eye on a nest of Canada goose eggs—and say they ended up catching a potential crime. "Two hours later, I get footage of a woman taking the eggs instead of the adult geese coming back," Niles Police Animal Control Officer Allison Cole tell ABC7. Authorities say surveillance video shows the woman on Monday afternoon removing eggs from the nest alongside a building near the Golf Mill Mall and stashing them in the pockets of her camouflage-patterned hoodie, FOX 32 reports.

Canada geese are protected under the Illinois Wildlife Code and the federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act, which makes it illegal to kill them or disturb their nests, eggs, or young without a permit. Cole said the eggs were likely just weeks from hatching. She says she initially hoped the woman was perhaps affiliated with a local wildlife group but confirmed that is not the case. "Sometimes it's just a matter of educating; some people truly don't know they're not supposed to do this. And just educating, maybe getting some fines is what's warranted," Cole said.