Dealing With Squirrels and Other Critters

When Squirrels Attack

I like squirrels. They’re cute and fun to watch as they scamper all over the yard. They annoyed me a little bit when they followed me around the yard as I planted beans, digging up the seeds as soon as I had turned my back. When they chewed open several plastic Easter eggs and a toy baseball it was just a minor inconvenience. But eating my radishes out from under me was more than I could take.

A week or so ago I pulled a handful of radishes from the garden right before watering. I rinsed them off and set them on the ground while I watered. I walked across the yard, watered a 10 foot section of pole beans and walked back. In that short time a squirrel had taken a big bite of my lunch. I think the word disgruntled might describe how I felt.

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After lunch I started looking into squirrel control. Here’s the rundown if you want to remove squirrels from your property (either killing or live trapping).

Minnesota DNR Rules Concerning Nuisance Animals

The Minnesota DNR’s website on taking nuisance animals says you can take mink, squirrels, rabbit, hare, raccoon, lynx, bobcat, fox, muskrat, opossum,  beaver and unprotected birds including the English sparrow, starling, and common pigeon if they are causing damage.

If you do take (kill) or trap one of those animals, you need to notify a Conservation Officer within 24 hours. If you are relocating the animal you will need to take them at least 15 miles away to drop them off, or they could come right back.

If you’re in Fridley or elsewhere in Anoka county, your Conservation Officer is Lisa Kruse at 651-430-1189. For Conservation Officers elsewhere in Minnesota please see the DNR phone directory.

The last caveat is that you need to also obey local rules and regulations.

Fridley Ordinances Concerning Trapping Squirrels

For all things animal control related, we’ll now turn to the Fridley City Code, section 101, Animal Control, subsection .02, Wild Animals and Birds. Squirrels are rodents, so this section applies “Nothing in this section, however, shall prevent property owners or their agents from eradicating rodents on their property through the use of traps, poisons or other such lawful means…”.

So if it’s squirrels you’re after, go for it. Just don’t forget to call the DNR afterwards, obey animal cruelty laws as well as gun laws.

Fridley Ordinances Concerning Rabbits and Other Anti-Garden Forces

If you wish to trap a non-rodent nuisance animal (such as rabbits), get ready for some leg work. Fridley requires a permit to take nuisance animals, but no one I spoke to could remember having issued such a permit. The permit requires a letter of indemnification to the city, a site plan, a list of how many animals will be removed and of what kind, how you will dispose of them, ID of the persons taking the animals, method to “secure the property from public intrusion”…

The long list of requirements started to make sense when a police officer I talked to explained that it had been illegal to trap/kill any animals in Fridley until a few years ago when there were too many deer causing problems near the dam. Deer sized traps would possibly be dangerous to people, and people trying to approach a trapped dear really could get seriously hurt.

After talking to the help desk , the department of public works, the department of community development, the help desk and the planning department someone named Julie knew what was going on. (Despite getting passed around, everyone was very friendly. It just took a bit to find who I needed to talk to.) She said that the position that had been in charge of that was gone, and she though that the police were now handling it. Since she wasn’t sure, she took my number and said she or they would be in touch. 20 minutes later I was talking to Police Captain Robert Rewitzer who confirmed that he was the man to talk to.

He explained what I would need to do to get the permit, and that it would go through him. He was also the one who explained that the code was put in place with deer management in mind. Captain Rewitzer said that trapping squirrels is OK but that if a rabbit got caught no one would probably mind, as long as that was not the primary intention.

Between his description of the permit process and his suggestion that no one would mind it sounded like he was implying that if someone had rabbit problems they should just take take care of them without a permit. Of course he wouldn’t actually suggest technically breaking the law, and if someone reported you I’m sure he would have a duty to charge them with a misdemeanor per city code section 101.20.

Action Time?

So, how much of a nuisance and how much damage justifies trapping and killing squirrels or rabbits? Does it matter that I’m raising food for my family, and not just flowers for enjoyment? I did put up a rabbit fence around the main garden, but that doesn’t keep out the squirrels. I’m pretty sure that they’re the main reason my green beans didn’t come up. I saw them back in that corner consistently after I planted. Now though, there aren’t any more seeds for them to dig up in the garden,  but they do continue to make divots in the lawn.

Would you kill a squirrel or rabbit eating your garden?