Criminalizing an 11 year old for saving a woodpecker from a cat?  C'mon....

An 11-year-old Virginia girl trying to rescue a baby woodpecker instead earned her mother a $535 fine when it turned out the bird was a protected species.

Skylar Capo saved the bird from the clutches of a cat which was about to turn the feathered friend into lunch.

"I've just always loved animals," Skylar told WUSA-TV. "I couldn't stand to watch it be eaten."

Afterwards, the girl decided to take the bird home for a few days to make sure it was okay before releasing it back into the wild.

As they were headed home they stopped into a store and brought the bird inside where they incidentally encountered an officer from the Department of Fish & Wildlife.

The officer informed them that the bird was a protected species and it was illegal to transport it.

When they got home, Capo said they set the bird free and it flew away. They reported this to fish and wildlife, but two weeks later, the officer appeared at their door with a $535 ticket.

It's a good thing the girl didn't decide to carry the bird onto a plane....

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