Posted on 05/16/2023 5:07:20 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Beavers, muskrats, rabbits, opossums, weasels and several types of squirrel, including chipmunks, are now legal to trap and kill in Michigan without a permit under recent nuisance wildlife regulation changes.
The Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) expanded the list of critter species that landowners can kill to prevent property damage during the state Natural Resources Commission meeting on Thursday, May 11 in Lansing.
Acting DNR Director Shannon Lott approved the change under her office’s authority. The commission did not vote or discuss the matter in detail last week.
The goal is to reduce conflicts between humans and animals as more Michigan farm and forestlands fall to development, DNR says. However, animal welfare advocates and Indigenous groups opposed the change during public comment.
“Instead of blaming these creatures for acting in accordance with their natural instincts, let’s hold the landowners accountable for their lack of preparedness and awareness,” argued animal rights activist Brece Clark. “It’s reminiscent of the old saying, ‘proper planning and preparation prevents piss poor performance.’ Instead of resorting to wildlife extermination, we should encourage landowners to take responsibility by planning ahead.”
Under the Wildlife Conservation Order amendment No. 6 of 2023, beavers, muskrats, cottontail rabbits, fox squirrels, gray squirrels, red squirrels, ground squirrels, opossums and weasels can now be killed, or “taken,” by landowners without obtaining a DNR nuisance control permit.
Those animals join woodchucks, skunks, raccoons and coyotes which are already on the lethal control list.
New order language states that property owners can kill a nuisance animal if its causing damage or is “physically present where it could imminently cause damage.”
The definition of property damage is “physical harm to forest products; roads; dams; buildings; orchards; apiaries; livestock; and horticultural or agricultural crops.”
The DNR says rabbits and squirrels are known to chew through structure or equipment wires. Weasels often kill chickens, ducks and other small livestock. Beaver dams can cause flooding or block culverts. Muskrat burrows can weaken shorelines, dikes, and riverbanks.
While beavers are “an important keystone species providing habitat benefits and ecosystem services,” according to a DNR memorandum, “their actions can also result in conflicts with humans and municipal infrastructure.”
The order updates existing language to clarify that beaver and muskrats are only considered to be doing “damage” if they cause flooding or culvert blockage.
The changes were proposed in March and April following internal workgroup deliberation. The DNR memo states that permitting lethal control of a nuisance animal “can create an administrative burden for both the property owner or municipality and department staff.”
“These permits are often issued after an inspection, which can take a few days depending on time of year and workload of department staff. In the meantime, the wild animal could be causing more damage, leaving the landowner or municipality to deal with the issue with limited tools available,” the DNR said.
The DNR already allows some hunting and trapping of small game animals such as ground squirrel, red squirrel, opossum and weasel either in season or year-round. However, the agency says problems often occur out of season or in urban or suburban areas where hunting is not practical or allowed.
The new order allows certain types of trapping methods to kill cottontail rabbits, fox squirrels, gray squirrels and woodchucks.
State law prohibits people from live trapping animals and releasing them elsewhere unless that’s being done by a licensed wildlife rehabilitator. A live trapped animal must be released or killed on the spot in Michigan.
The DNR said the updates will not result in any significant biological impacts in Michigan.
Wildlife advocates argued Thursday that more onus should be put on property owners to take steps to avoid inadvertently incentivizing wildlife presence on their property, such as ensuring that animal food is not left outside, garbage cans are tightly locked against raccoons, or spreading used cat litter around certain trees to keep woodchucks away.
“Let’s encourage people to find better solutions to wildlife problems,” said Trish Marie of Grand Blanc.
“You can Google this stuff.”
Nichole Biber of the Michigan Democratic Party’s Anishinaabek Caucus called the order an “ethically problematic” elevation of administrative burdens above co-existence philosophies.
“The animals on this list all have stories and teachings attached to them,” Biber said.
“We do not accept the killing of our necessary cultural touchstones for the sake of convenience.”
Marc Spencer of the Michigan Trappers and Predator Callers Association spoke in support of the proposal but argued that the changes don’t help individual property owners as much as it does local governments because landowners still need a permit to remove beaver dams.
“If it takes two months for somebody to come out and do all the inspections to take out the dam, you’re gonna have more beaver back in there,” he said. “They’ll move right in.”
“It only takes about a week for beaver to build a dam to start flooding an area,” Spencer said.
Chipmunks chew holes in our 1/2” heavy duty (Rainbird) drip irrigation tubing. I’ve gotten good at replacing the damaged sections after noticing a geyser of water shooting 8-10 feet up into the air. We actually changed the watering time to 10am so we’d see the geysers from the sunroom. It used to come on overnight...and we had no clue. They just finished knawing a foot-long section out, like they used a razor knife. Little bastids.
They said the same thing about the Passenger Pigeon!
Wake me when they also include communists, moslems, and faggots...
Geesh people have been killing chipmonks forever without a permit. I’ve shot more than my fair share for sure.
Why possums? Like one possum will clean an area out of 1800 ticks per month, or some ridiculous amount. They actually evolved to attract and pick up ticks wherever they went so they could eat them and remove them from the environment.
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