Iowa Man Waited for Geese to Cross the Road, Then Ran Them Over By Sean Neumann 12

An elderly Iowa man was sentenced this week for purposefully running over a flock of Canadian geese last summer after waiting for them to walk in front of his car, killing one of the animals.

The United States Attorney’s Office Southern District of Iowa announced the sentencing details against 82-year-old Joseph Thomas Lamb on Tuesday, saying the Ankeny, Iowa man was charged after authorities found he “drove his vehicle into a flock of Canada geese on State Street in Ankeny” around 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.”

Lamb was sentenced to six-months probation and ordered to pay a $2,000 fine, officials said.

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According to federal officials, Canadian geese are protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. The migratory bird heavily populates the upper Midwest, passing over in V-formation as it travels northbound in the spring and southbound in the fall. The birds can weigh over six pounds and have a wingspan of more than four feet, according to the National Audubon Society.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office Southern District of Iowa said in its press release this week that 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.”