WATCH ABOVE: Florida Fish & Wildlife officers are investigating a viral video showing a man driving drunk with a federally protected Great Horned Owl in his car, then threatening to eat it. Brian Entin reports.
TORONTO – A Florida man could be facing charges after posting a video online that shows him and at least two others admittedly intoxicated and joyriding with a federally protected owl in the driver’s seat.
West Palm Beach native Johnny Duverson, his cousin and one other unidentified man were out in the early hours on March 16 when they came across a great horned owl on the side of a road that at least one wildlife official believes could have been injured.
“3 a.m. in the morning we are drunk and we are high,” Duverson posted on Facebook. “We bout to take this thing home and eat it up just found it on the road.”
A 27-second video attached to the post has been viewed more than 130,000 times at the time of this writing. It shows the entourage cruising around town with the owl held in the driver’s lap while Duverson, who was holding the camera, laughed and said, “We be vibin’!”
Duverson also posted a shorter second video that briefly shows a large open bottle of liquid – presumably alcohol – in the vehicle.
Just over a week later, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is investigating after Duverson’s post sparked enough outrage to alert authorities.
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After all, it’s a felony in the United States to have a great horned owl in your possession. The bird is federally protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.
“Anything we are looking into as an investigation is something where we are saying we are concerned. We are going to move forward and find out what happened here and make sure things are addressed,” the FWC’s Liz Barraco told WPTV.
However, Duverson doesn’t seem to think all the attention is warranted.
“Why these people are worried about something that don’t even have no social security number,” he posted on Facebook after a reporter tried to contact him.
Eventually he relented and spoke with WPTV’s Brian Rentin.
“I know what I put on Facebook. I can put what I want on my Facebook. But like I said, I just woke up and you are coming to my door with this stupid stuff,” Duverson told Rentin. He also claimed that he released the owl hours after recording the video and did not harm it.
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