I know this would vary from locale to locale, but, presumably, there are some animals that do not require a permit to kill (mice in mouse traps, for example). How does this work? Is there a list of “always OK to kill” species?
It is better to just keep it as a pet 😪
In England it’s illigal to keep a squirrel in captivity, but it’s also illigal to release a captured squirrel back into the wild, so the only option is to (humanely) kill the poor fucker.
Nobody has ever faced charges for it. If you find an injured grey, care for it, then release it.
Yeah, guaranteed I would be the first 🤣
Grey Squirrels I presume. I imagine they don’t want the reds killed.
Did you know both are invasive? I read a study once that our native species of squirrels are extinct and went extinct some time ago.
At roughly the same time rich landowners imported both the Eurasian reds and the American greys. We have decided to conserve the reds as they’re closest to our native reds but it’s very subjective.
Why in any hell would you import squirrels‽
In the 18th and 19th centuries big fancy estates in the countryside would import ‘exotic’ animals to have on their land to show off their wealth. It’s where a few of our deer species come from, pheasants, partridge, the little owl, and the squirrels.
Some others were popular but didn’t naturalise, like peacocks, it’s interesting to think how life would be if peacocks were as prolific as pigeons.
Peacocks are as ornery as canada geese and make more noise. It’s not great when not your peacock decides he’s gonna roost on your roof.
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I searched for “ST small game rules” where ST = State (of the USA) 2 letter abbreviation. For MN and WI here are the results:
https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/hunting/smallgame/index.html
https://dnr.wisconsin.gov/topic/hunt/smgameIn Maine you can hunt red squirrel all year. Grey squirrel season is like September 1 to December 31. Can’t hunt greys outside those months there.
For species that are listed as nuisance animals, it can be legal to kill them without a hunting license and out of a hunting season. If there’s evidence that the animal is causing significant harm, it can generally be killed.
Shit, if you do in my state I’ve broken the law hundreds of times. My friend and I used to go out to this bit of farm land specifically to shoot the squirrels, because the farmer paid a bounty on each one brought back as proof. It was like an IRL low-level gold/XP farming quest!
Georgia has a season for hunting squirrels. I believe you can kill feral hogs anytime but are supposed to use whatever is legal for the current hunting season. Most things have a season. Your state’s DNR website should have lists.
There are multiple different rules in many locales. Here are the rule for MN (as of 20 years ago) The DNR has a season on them, so you have to have a small game license (no license needed if under 16), hunt in season, obey the maximum per day limits, and eat it after you kill it. The health department considers them rodents and will sometimes issue permits to kill them year round in specific areas, you don’t need to eat them. Agriculture law allows you to kill any non-endangered species that is a pest (this is what allows you to kill mice as well).
Remember the above is MN law as of 20 years ago when I last checked. Such law changes from time to time and place to place.