Collecting Wildlife 215 Department of Fish and Game or US Fish and Wildlife Service) are all present In addition, claims for the legitimacy of oology as valuable scientific study have been made, by for example the Jourdain Society, an oological society that promoted the collection of eggs for scientific study (Braid 1994), highlighting the fact that the study of eggs and eggshell thinning in the 1950s highlighted the harm being caused to wildlife by pesticides such as DDT Egg collecting has been likened to a form of kleptomania where offenders’ compulsive behaviour drives them to commit crimes and experience the adventure involved in doing so Rather like a collector of stolen paintings, some of whom pay large sums of money for stolen works, egg collectors may in part be driven by the acquisition of an item that cannot be obtained legitimately Pleasure is also derived by the act of possession with the acquired item serving as a reminder of the adventure gained in its acquisition Some stolen works of art, many of which are recognisable cannot be traded on the open market but are acquired for private collectors to appreciate Burke (2001) suggested that the trade in ancient manuscripts and historic books in the UK was worth millions of pounds with criminal gangs turning to trafficking for private collectors and with thefts of works by Copernicus and Ptolemy being commissioned by private collectors Although there is evidence of some stolen works being traded (Burke 2001), the drive to obtain items for personal use and which cannot be publicly exhibited is a primary factor of the obsessive collector Taylor and Quayle (2003) explain that ‘the emotional intensity that is part of collecting behaviour’ (2003, p 48) is a significant factor with the collector interacting with others who share his interests and often being driven to have a bigger, better and more comprehensive collection than others The competitive drive and the obsessive need to acquire items can turn a hobby interest in certain items into a passionate desire to collect (Belk 1995; Taylor and Quayle 2003) The obsessive nature of animal collecting offences is confirmed by egg collectors themselves Egg collector Derek Lee confirmed this to The Guardian stating that many egg collectors are consumed by their habit and simply cannot stop He explains that: There are quite a few who are obsessed with it Every single spring and summer they can’t wait to get out If you put a child in a chocolate factory their eyes light up with excitement It’s like that When spring and summer come, the eggers are on edge They’re like big kids (Barkham 2006) The obsessive-compulsive nature of offending is a factor, and the meticulous notes retained by collectors is, in fact, used by investigators as evidence of their offences (Barkham 2006; Wood 2008) The UK legislation also allows