A homeless man, who keeps a string of nine cats and waits for a spaceship to come and get him, is facing eviction from the property he squats on near the Big Wood River west of Hailey.
Richard Lee Grace, more commonly known as "Birddog," was notified by the Blaine County Sheriff's Office last week that the property owner wants him gone. He was given until next Wednesday to vacate the premises or face trespass charges.
Grace has squatted for several years on privately owned land just west of Lion's Park. He lives in an A-frame shelter that he built mostly from scrap lumber and furnished with donated items and things he obtains from dumpster diving.
The property is owned by Boise resident William F. Simons, who said he became aware that Grace was squatting on his property after reading a story about Grace in the Nov. 19 edition of the Idaho Mountain Express.
"The thing is, I'm responsible if anything happens down there," Simons said Thursday. "And I can't say I don't know about it because of that article. My lawyer says I have a liability issue here."
Simons and sheriff's deputies met with Grace on Thursday, Dec. 4. Simons said the sheriff's office imposed the Wednesday deadline after Grace said it would take him five days to move.
"I told him I would give him up to two weeks," Simons said. "I just told him, 'You're trespassing and please get off.' He said he has permission to be there, but his permission is from his greater outer galactic world that he says he communes with."
Simons was referring to claims by Grace to be a descendant or survivor from the lost island of Atlantis. Grace further claims that a spaceship will someday come to get him from a planet he calls "Rilgrace," which was once the home of the people of Atlantis.
"He told us in 10 days those ships were either going to come and get him or get us," Simons said. "So I may not see Christmas.
"I really don't want to be a mean guy on this," Simons said. "But if something happened down there, somebody wouldn't hesitate to come back on me would they? The thing of it is, I understand that Grace has gotten into a fight with some guy down there. In the summer, I've heard he harasses people in the park."
Simons was referring to an allegation made by a Hailey man, who claimed that he had a violent confrontation with Grace near Lion's Park in the summer of 2007. The sheriff's office investigated the incident and declined to charge either alleged combatant with a crime.
It was not the first time that Grace has been accused of violence.
According to Blaine County court records, Grace was charged in 1992 with three counts of rape against a woman he knew. The charges were ultimately dismissed, but Grace was also charged in 1993 with domestic battery against the same woman. The domestic battery charge implies that Grace was involved in some sort of domestic relationship with the woman even after the rape charges were dismissed. Court records state that he was later acquitted of that charge too.
Birddogs cats get 'fixed'
Hailey resident Jeramie Dreyfuss has taken on the task of helping Grace with his cats.
In addition to providing cat food for the animals, she hauled all nine of them on Wednesday to the Animal Shelter of the Wood River Valley where they were either spayed or neutered depending upon their gender.
"I got them all fixed—all nine of them," Dreyfuss said.
The operations were done for free under the animal shelter's "community no-cost program."
"We did it for him for free, but we usually ask for a donation to help cover the cost," said shelter Executive Director JoAnne Dixon. "But if they don't have money, we do it for free."
Dixon said the cats, colored black, gray or striped, were "very socialized and sweet cats" in good physical condition.
"Someone like this, who really loves his pets, we'll get them fixed so they're not reproducing all over the place," Dixon said.
Dreyfuss said she is concerned about Grace and the welfare of his cats if he is evicted.
"He won't live without those cats—those cats are his family," she said. "People do care about this guy. I believe he's harmless."
Neither Sheriff Walt Femling nor Lt. Jay Davis returned telephone calls to the Idaho Mountain Express regarding the situation.
Richard Lee Grace faces eviction from the A-frame structure he built from scrap lumber on someone else’s property near Hailey.
