The griffon vulture was carrying a GPS transmitter bearing the name of Tel Aviv University, prompting rumours it was part of a Zionist plot.
Wha. . . how . . . but. . . you're kidding? You are kidding, right?
Last month, Egyptian officials implied the Israeli spy agency Mossad was to blame for shark attacks off its coast.
Because they're madder than Mad Ahmed Al-Mad, winner of Arabia's maddest man competition.
When locals discovered the GPS transmitter, they suspected the worst and handed it over to the security forces, said Israel's Ma'ariv newspaper.
Conspiracy theories quickly began circulating in Saudi newspapers and on websites that the bird was involved in espionage.
Locals? Why am I getting visions of banjos and albinos here? Is this place twinned with Hartlepool?
Israeli officials told Ma'ariv they were "stunned" by the allegations and concerned that the bird could meet a horrible punishment in the notoriously severe Saudi justice system.
Which just goes to show, there's no nutter as nutty as a religious nutter with a persecution complex.
Give me strength.
That being said, the report is from an Israeli newspaper. In case you hadn't noticed, Israel doesn't do too badly in the swivel eyed barking at the moon stakes itself.
