sly had no owner. So far as the occupant's title is
concerned, it is immaterial whether it is on his own land or on that of
another that he catches wild animals or birds, though it is clear that
if he goes on another man's land for the sake of hunting or fowling,
the latter may forbid him entry if aware of his purpose. An animal thus
caught by you is deemed your property so long as it is completely under
your control; but so soon as it has escaped from your control, and
recovered its natural liberty, it ceases to be yours, and belongs to the
first person who subsequently catches it. It is deemed to have recovered
its natural liberty when you have lost sight of it, or when, though it
is still in your sight, it would be difficult to pursue it.

13 It has been doubted whether a wild animal becomes your property
immediately you have wounded it so severely as to be able to catch it.
Some have thought that it becomes yours at once, and remains so as
long as you pursue it, though it ceases to be yours when you cease
the pursuit, and becomes again the property of any one who catches it:
others have been of opinion that it does not belong to you till you have
actually caught it. And we confirm this latter view, for it may happen
in many ways that you will not capture it.

14 Bees again are naturally wild; hence if a swarm settles on your tree,
it is no more considered yours, until you have hived it, than the birds
which build their nests there, and consequently if it is hived by
some one else, it becomes his property. So too any one may take the
honeycombs which bees may chance to have made, though, of course, if you
see some one coming on your land for this purpose, you have a right,
to forbid him entry before that purpose is effected. A swarm which has
flown from your hive is considered to remain yours so long as it is in
your sight and easy of pursuit: otherwise it belongs to the first person
who catches it.

15 Peafowl too and pigeons are naturally wild, and it is no valid
objection that they are used to return to the same spots from which they
fly away, for bees do this, and it is admitted that bees are wild by
nature; and some people have deer so tame that they will go into the
woods and yet habitually come back again, and still no one denies that
they are naturally wild. With regard, however, to animals which have
this habit of going away and coming back again, the rule has been
established that they are deemed yours so