Code of Massachusetts Regulations › 321 CMR - DIVISION OF FISHERIES AND WILDLIFE › Title 321 CMR 2.00 - Miscellaneous Regulations › Section 2.08 - Use of Certain Traps for the Taking of Fur-bearing Mammals

Current through Register 1525, July 5, 2024
(1)
Definitions
: for
			 the purposes of 321 CMR 2.08, the following words and phrases have the
			 following meanings:
Agriculture
or
Agricultural Use
means farming or agriculture as
				defined in M.G.L. c. 111, § 1.
Cage or Box Type Trap
means a trap
				that confines the whole animal without grasping any part of the animal.
Conibear Type Trap
means "Conibear"
				model traps and similar body-gripping traps and devices, whether or not
				enclosed in or comprising part of a box, tube, or other enclosing
				device.
Department of Environmental Protection
means the Department of Environmental Protection within the Executive Office of
				Energy and Environmental Affairs, as provided for in M.G.L. c. 21A,
				§7.
Department of Public Health
means the
				Department of Public Health within the Executive Office of Health and Human
				Services, as provided for in M.G.L. c. 6A, § 7G.
Director
means the Director of the
				Division of Fisheries and Wildlife, as provided for in M.G.L. c. 21, §
				7G.
Division
means the Division of
				Fisheries and Wildlife within the Department of Fish and Game, as provided for
				in M.G.L. c. 21A, § 8.
Federal Department of Public Health
means the United States Public Health Service.
Fur-bearing Mammals
means all mammals
				in the Class Mammalia, as defined in M.G.L. c. 131, §1.
Municipal Board of Health
means a
				board of health as defined in M.G.L. c. 111, § 1.
Municipal Conservation Commission
means a conservation commission as provided for in M.G.L. c. 40, § 8C,
				provided that, if a town or city does not have a conservation commission, the
				authority thereof shall be exercised by the board of selectmen in a town or the
				mayor in a city.
Permissible Traps
means cage or box
				type traps, common type mouse and rat traps, and net traps.
Prohibited Traps
means all traps used
				for the capture of fur-bearing mammals except cage or box type traps, common
				type mouse and rat traps, and net traps.
Restricted Traps
means conibear type
				traps.
(2)
Use
			 of Certain Traps Prohibited
. Except as provided in M.G.L. c. 131,
			 § 80A, and 321 CMR 2.08, a person shall not use, set, place, maintain, or
			 possess for the purpose of capturing fur-bearing mammals, any prohibited trap
			 in any wood, field, or waters of Massachusetts or in any other place where
			 fur-bearing mammals may be found.
(3)
Health and Safety
			 Exceptions
. Notwithstanding the provisions of 321 CMR 2.08(2), the
			 Department of Public Health, the federal department of public health, or a
			 municipal board of health may use prohibited traps for the purpose of
			 protection from threats to human health and safety.
(4)
Criteria for Determining
			 Threats to Human Health and Safety
. A threat to human health and
			 safety may include, but not be limited to, one or more of the following
			 situations:
(a) beaver or muskrat occupancy
			 of a public water supply;
(b)
			 beaver or muskrat-caused flooding of drinking water wells, wellfields, or water
			 pumping stations;
(c) beaver or
			 muskrat-caused flooding of sewage beds, septic systems, or sewage pumping
			 stations;
(d) beaver or
			 muskrat-caused flooding of a public or private way, driveway, railway, or
			 airport runway or taxiway;
(e)
			 beaver or muskrat-caused flooding of electrical or gas generation plants or
			 transmission or distribution structures or facilities, telephone or other
			 communications facilities, or other public utilities;
(f) beaver or muskrat-caused flooding
			 affecting the public use of hospitals, emergency clinics, nursing homes, homes
			 for the elderly, or fire stations;
(g) beaver or muskrat-caused flooding
			 affecting hazardous waste sites or facilities, incineration or resource
			 recovery plants, or other structures or facilities whereby flooding may result
			 in the release or escape of hazardous or noxious materials or
			 substances;
(h) the gnawing,
			 chewing, entering, or damage to electrical or gas generating or transmission
			 equipment, cables, alarm systems, or facilities by any beaver or muskrat;
(i) beaver or muskrat-caused
			 flooding or structural instability on property owned by the applicant if such
			 animal problem poses an imminent threat of substantial property damage or
			 income loss, which shall be limited to:
1.
			 flooding of residential, commercial, industrial or commercial buildings or
			 facilities;
2. flooding of or
			 access to commercial agricultural lands which prevents normal agricultural
			 practices from being conducted on such lands;
3. reduction in the production of an
			 agricultural crop caused by flooding or compromised structural stability of
			 commercial agricultural lands;
4.
			 flooding of residential lands in which the municipal board of health, its chair
			 or agent or the state or federal department of health has determined a threat
			 to human health and safety exists.