Jay Man Accused Of Hanging Dead Coyotes On Billboard, Calling Them ‘Yard Decoration’
June 15, 2023
A Jay man is accused of hanging two dead coyotes from a billboard near his home.
Lonnie Michael Hutchinson, 41, was cited for littering and two second degree misdemeanor deer depredation permit violations.
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officers launched an investigation after receiving a photograph of two coyotes that were killed and hung up by the legs on a billboard on Highway 89 at Dusty Trail in Allentown. An FWC office arrived to find that the freshly killed coyotes were recently cut down and were in the grass below the billboard with rope still around their feet.
FWC said Hutchinson and his wife approached in a golf cart.
“He asked me if I was entertained yet,” the FWC officer wrote in his report. “I asked if he knew why I was there and he replied ‘for the yard decoration’.”
FWC said Hutchinson made conflicting statements about the coyotes, first saying he did it before suggesting that it might be young kids but he could not provide their names. The billboard is located 544 yards from his property and can clearly be seen from his property, officers noted. The photograph also showed “LH” spray painted on the billboard, which matches Hutchinson’s initials, officers said.
He was charged with littering for “leaving and displaying the dead animals on the billboard off of the right of way”.
During the conversation, Hutchinson mentioned that shoots deer on a local farmer’s property. FWC depredation permits “authorize the lethal take of deer causing damage to crops, where less lethal means of control are either ineffective or not feasible,” according to FWC. The permits come with multiple restrictions and are issued only to landowners or authorized lessees of property with agricultural rights.
FWC officers contacted the farmer who stated that Hutchinson sent him a text message stating that he killed three deer and two coyotes.
According to the FWC report, Hutchinson failed to provide officers with a full copy of the deer depredation permit with written landowner permission and failed to report deer taken under the permit.
Pictured: A reader submitted photo shows two dead coyotes hanging from a billboard on Highway 89 near Jay. Photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Comments
17 Responses to “Jay Man Accused Of Hanging Dead Coyotes On Billboard, Calling Them ‘Yard Decoration’”
There is a comic drawing somewhere with two well sized deer bucks with shotguns and 2 men hanging from atree with a caption of… ‘had a good day of hunting today’
the coyote’s will catch your cat or your small dog or a small child. They pass diseases and create havoc. In many states there are bounties on them.
We have met the enemy and they is us.
@Pineville I’m law-abiding but let someone show up on my property without a warrant digging through my stuff or coming into my house. That day I’ll no longer be law-abiding. Facts.
@mnon, FWC requires absolutely no search warrants in the Efforts of Game Conservation and the Law pertaining to it. Just as this article implies, ( Don’t say things you shouldn’t )
@mnon
Why should someone’s gender matter?
Sure, sometimes animals need to be killed. But there’s a huge difference between euthanizing an animal that is a danger to people/livestock, and dangling its corpse in public as a form of “entertainment”.
@mnon,Guy your just as loose in the head as this dude in the report,so it seems to be.Your just picking to get a response. Unwarranted and Unnecessary at best.
Great, we just rented that billboard…. hope he doesn’t do it again
@Bewildered – you go back and read it… He had permission to kill said animals on someone else’s property. He should have kept it on their property or his own property and kept his mouth shut. Instead, he hangs the coyotes on a sign off his property and then says something about killing 3 deer. So Yes I understand the report perfectly and I still say it’s no big deal but, 95% of the outrage responses are from females… and your outrage doesn’t even matter. If you had livestock and kept dealing with these pests you’d feel the same way. Yet you don’t and you think of them as pets. Yes, he shouldn’t have hung them on a sign, but it really is not this outrageous disgusting thing all of you make it out to be. I think the comments are hilarious.
mnon – please read the article before making comments. this disturbed guy killed the 5 banimals on someone else’s property.
He should have long jail time for this. What a jerk!
@ mnon – since when do people who report dead animals hanging on publlc signs become “karens”. Moronic comment.
Wish I could hang him up from his legs…alive,of course
WOW! What exactly was the point in this besides total ignorance?
Weird people do weird stuff for entertainment
This fellow runs mouth convicts self.
Five animals killed? Is anyone watching this man for mental issues? Yeah, I know, he is just protecting his property.
Loose lips sink ships… FWC “Who’s coyotes” Best response “I dunno” FWC “How did they get there” response “I dunno”. The burden of proof is on them to prove you did anything. THEN he opened his mouth about the deer.. why? Why volunteer information? No one searches my property without a warrant, I don’t care if it’s FWC… better go get that warrant, sir. This guy deserves all the fines they slap him with just for running his mouth and showing off to neighbors.
Best advice dude, next time don’t be a showoff or a braggart, first off no one cares unless they can get you in trouble. Secondly, no matter how funny you think it is, there’s always a Karen around.