Washington Administrative Code
Title 220 - Fish and Wildlife, Department of
WILDLIFE
Chapter 220-400 - Wildlife-Definitions, classifications, and general wildlife rules
Section 220-400-050 - Requirements for sealing of pelts and collection of biological information for river otter, cougar, lynx, and bobcat

(1) It is unlawful to possess river otter, cougar, lynx, or bobcat taken in Washington without a department identification seal which has been attached to the raw pelt, on or off the carcass, prior to the pelt sealing deadline.

(2) The raw pelt of a bobcat or river otter must be presented to an authorized department employee, or authorized individual under permit with the department, for sealing, and the associated harvest report must be submitted to the department by April 20th after the close of the appropriate hunting or trapping season in which it was killed.

Any person who takes a bobcat must present a cleaned and air-dried complete lower jaw (both sides), in such a manner that the canine tooth can be extracted for aging, to an authorized department employee at the time of sealing before a pelt seal will be issued.

(3) Any person who takes a cougar without the use of dogs must notify the department within 72 hours of kill (excluding legal state holidays) and provide the hunter's name, date and location of kill, and sex of animal. Any person who takes a cougar with the use of dogs must notify the department within 24 hours of kill (excluding legal state holidays) and provide the hunter's name, date and location of kill, and sex of animal. The raw pelt of a cougar must be presented to an authorized department employee for sealing within five days of the notification of kill.

Any person who takes a cougar must present the cougar skull, in such a manner that teeth and biological samples can be extracted, to an authorized department employee at the time of sealing.

(4) It is unlawful to transport or cause the transport out of Washington a raw pelt of river otter, cougar, lynx, or bobcat taken in Washington without a department seal attached to the pelt.

(5) The raw pelt of a river otter, cougar, lynx, or bobcat taken outside Washington and imported into the state must be identified by a tag, seal or permit consistent with federal, state or country of origin laws and be accompanied by an invoice, declaration or permit specifying the number of pelts in the shipment.

(6) It is unlawful to possess an unlocked, broken, or otherwise open department seal for river otter, cougar, lynx, or bobcat unless the seal wire or band has been cut through and removed from a pelt that has been received and invoiced by a licensed taxidermist or fur dealer for processing or removed from a pelt that has been processed, except that individuals authorized by the department to seal pelts may possess open, unbroken seals.