Current through Register Vol. 54, No. 44, November 2, 2024
(a)
General. There shall be one durable identification tag
attached to each trap or snare by means of an extension wire of sufficient
length so that the name tag is completely above the water or ice level and
totally visible for inspection purposes. The name tag shall visibly set forth
the owner's first and last name and legal home address, or a number issued by
the Commission.
(b)
Unlawful acts. It is unlawful to:
(1) Place, or make use of, materials or
products except raw native wood or stone to direct the travel of beaver or
otter. Man-made materials may be used only to support traps or
snares.
(2) Place, check, reset or
tend a trap or snare on an established beaver dam or beaver house, or within 15
feet of either a dam or a house. Measurement shall be from directly above the
trap or snare, across the water, ice or land to the nearest point of the
structure.
(3) Set body-gripping
traps larger than 10 inches in height by 12 inches in width.
(4) Set, tend or operate any number of traps
or snares for beaver trapping in excess of the limits established by this
paragraph.
(i) Beaver trappers are generally
limited to a combined Statewide total of 20 traps or snares, no more than 10 of
which may be traps. No more than 2 of the 10 traps may be body-gripping traps,
except:
(A) In Wildlife Management Units where
beaver bag limits are 40 per season, all 10 traps may be body-gripping
traps.
(B) In Wildlife Management
Units where beaver bag limits are 60 per season, all 20 traps or snares may be
body-gripping traps.
(ii)
Beaver trappers are limited to using no more than five traps or snares, no more
than two of which may be body-gripping traps, in any Wildlife Management Unit
with an open otter trapping season. This limitation is inclusive of any otter
traps or snares set under paragraph (7). This limitation is applicable during
periods when the open beaver trapping season overlaps by calendar date with the
open otter trapping season.
(5) Check, set, reset or otherwise maintain a
beaver or otter trap or snare, or remove a beaver or otter from a trap or
snare, unless the person is identified by the attached name tag as the owner.
This paragraph does not prohibit the lending of assistance when the person
whose name appears on the trap tag is present.
(6) Equip snares with a spring-activating
mechanism or any device designed to aid the closing of the snare
loop.
(7) Set, tend or operate any
number of traps or snares for otter trapping in excess of the limits
established by this paragraph. Otter trappers are limited to a combined
Statewide total of five traps or snares, no more than two of which may be
body-gripping traps. This limitation is inclusive of any beaver traps or snares
set under paragraph (4)(ii).
The provisions of this §141.62 amended under the
Game and Wildlife Code,
34 Pa.C.S. §§
2102 and
2901(b).
This section cited in 58 Pa. Code §
141.67 (relating to furbearer
seasons).
