In an unusual criminal case involving the popular Chesapeake Bay art form of wildfowl carving, federal prosecutors filed a felony charge yesterday against a nationally known Perry Hall taxidermist accused of trading illegally in stuffed ducks and other waterfowl.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service investigators say greed motivated Michael G. Dison to flout wildlife-protection laws in the sale of thousands of dollars worth of illegal mounted ducks and other waterfowl, including strictly protected loons and swans. The agency said Mr. Dison sold the mounts to world-class wildfowl carvers in Maryland, Virginia and other mid-Atlantic states.
The carvers use the mounts as references for their exacting works, which sometimes sell for thousands of dollars each.
Mr. Dison, owner of Mike's Taxidermy Studio in the 5000 block of Lolly Lane, was charged in U.S. District Court in Baltimore with one felony violation of the federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act, said Assistant U.S. Attorney W. Warren Hamel.
In Mr. Dison's case, the felony violation carries a maximum fine of $500,000 and up to two years in prison.
Neither Mr. Dison, 48, nor his attorney could be reached for comment yesterday.
In general, federal law permits the sale of mounted waterfowl only to the person who provided the bird, or the sale of captive-reared waterfowl. Authorities say Mr. Dison acquired the birds from hunters or other contacts, and in some cases sold them illegally to carvers.
The charge resulted from a four-year undercover investigation. Federal officials say the case is troubling because ducks, geese and swans have suffered serious declines over the past 25 years, with the loss of wetland nesting habitat to the north and declines of habitat and food in wintering areas such as the Chesapeake Bay.
Carvers in the Chesapeake Bay region have adapted the utilitarian craft of making decoys for hunting to the masterful carving and painting of decorative pieces. The carvers "need an excellent mounted specimen to get the exact measurements and colors," said Daniel H. Hurt, a special agent for the wildlife service who led the investigation into Mr. Dison's taxidermy business.
The charge against Mr. Dison comes just days after the immensely popular annual Easton Waterfowl Festival, one of the top conventions of wildlife artists in the nation.
Allegations of criminal exploitation of waterfowl for use in wildfowl carving "probably would be offensive to most of the people attending these things," said C. John Sullivan, who calls himself a waterfowling historian. Mr. Sullivan has written extensively on decoy carving and is an adviser to the nationally recognized Ward Museum of Wildfowl Art in Salisbury.
Some of the ducks Mr. Dison mounted -- and the carvers bought -- included gaudily colored wood ducks, with their iridescent green, violet and blue markings, and harlequin ducks, so named because of their striking plumage. Other species involved include buffleheads, northern shovelers, green-winged teals, common goldeneyes, common eiders and surf scoters.
"Wild ducks are not doing very well at all," Agent Hurt said. "He [Mr. Dison] was putting more pressure on an already declining resource. . . . Greed is the motive here."
The fall flight of waterfowl in the United States, including the 29 species that frequent the Chesapeake, dropped from 100 million birds in the 1970s to about 55 million by the mid-1980s. Recent federal estimates suggest that ducks may be on the rebound, with this year's fall flight expected to reach 71 million birds.
Wildlife officials say that as ducks became scarcer and hunting seasons were shortened -- coupled with the popularity of wildfowl carving -- Mr. Dison was able to command higher prices for his mounts. Federal officials said it was difficult to say how much money Mr. Dison made on the sale of illegal waterfowl.
In an affidavit filed in court, Agent Hurt said Mr. Dison had been preparing duck mounts for wildfowl carvers for 25 years. The document said he mounted about 500 ducks per year. Mr. Dison sold the mounts from $120 to more than $300 each, Agent Hurt said.
"He is one of the nation's premier waterfowl taxidermists. . . . His work was sought by [wildfowl] carvers more than any other taxidermist in the nation." Wildlife service officials say Mr. Dison's case is significant because of the scale of commercial exploitation of the ducks.
Federal and state wildlife agents seized 53 mounted ducks worth an estimated $6,000 when they executed a search warrant at Mr. Dison's home in April 1993, Agent Hurt said.
Agent Hurt posed as a wildfowl carver from Virginia during the investigation. Many carvers who bought mounts from Mr. Dison, including an FBI agent in Washington, told federal investigators they did not know the mounts were illegal. Still, officials said, the carvers could face fines.