Property I- Acquisition by Capture

Question 1

Pierson v. Post

Answer 1

• P had been stalking a fox for a long time. D knew this, but killed and carried off the fox anyway.
• Issue: Whose fox is this?
• Rule: Whoever captures the animal owns it, not the person who was in pursuit first.

Question 2

Capture (Common Law)

Answer 2

-Can be:
A) Mortally wounding (brought it close to death) the animal so that capture is certain.
B) Trapping the animal with reasonable precautions against escape.

Question 3

Public Policy: Kill/Capture Rule

Answer 3

• Wild animals were seen as a nuisance, so this rule helped reward someone who killed/captured the animal, regardless of whether someone else had been hunting the animal for a while.
• “We just wanted the animal gone!”
• Common Law (Statute trumps Common Law)

Question 4

What if you capture it but it gets on to private property?

Answer 4

• It is still yours.

- Not trespassing if it is to reclaim your property (the animal you mortally wounded).

Question 5

Ghen v. Rich

Answer 5

• Common Law
• P killed a whale with a bomb-lance (branding it). The whale washed ashore and the person who found it sold it to D at an auction, ignoring the marking. P mortally wounded the whale and it is his (not an abandonment).

Question 6

Keeble v. Hickeringill

Answer 6

• P would lure ducks into his pond to kill and sell them. D, a competitor, would shoot gun in the air to scare them away.
• Rule: You can compete with someone, but you can’t interfere with someone’s legal right to conduct business on their property.

Question 7

Possession of Ferae Naturae

Answer 7

• Landowners are regarded as prior possessors and have constructive possession of any ferae naturae (wild animals) on, in, or over their land until that ferae naturae leaves their land.
• Applies to migrating resources: animals, birds, oil, and gas.
• If killed on private land it belongs to landowner.

Question 8

Animus Revertendi

Answer 8

• Means that an animal has a tendency to return.
• Applies to wild and domesticated animals.
• If they have a tendency to return (domesticated do), they belong to the property owner.
• If like the giraffe in Lansing example, then you have constructive notice that it belongs to someone else.

Question 9

If Abandoned?

Answer 9

-Then whoever finds it gets to keep it.