An 82-year-old Iowa man has been sentenced for deliberately driving into a flock of Canada geese last summer after waiting for the birds to walk in front of his vehicle, killing one.
The United States Attorney’s Office Southern District of Iowa announced the sentencing on Tuesday, stating that Joseph Thomas Lamb of Ankeny was charged after authorities determined he “drove his vehicle into a flock of Canada geese on State Street in Ankeny” at about 6:30 a.m. on June 10, 2025.
“Lamb stopped to let a flock of nine Canada geese cross in front of his vehicle,” the attorney’s office said. “When the geese were in the middle of his lane, he accelerated into the geese, killing one of the geese.”
Officials said Lamb was sentenced to six months of probation and ordered to pay a $2,000 fine.
Federal officials noted that Canada geese are protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. The species is common across the upper Midwest, migrating north in the spring and south in the fall, often traveling in V-formation. The birds can weigh more than six pounds and have wingspans of more than four feet, according to the National Audubon Society.
In its press release, the U.S. Attorney’s Office Southern District of Iowa said violations of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act can be “punishable by up to six months in prison, a fine of up to $15,000, and a term of supervised release of not more than one year.”
