The ubiquitous gray squirrel dodged a bullet Tuesday in the form of a bill that would establish a year-round, open season for hunting the bushy-tailed rodent in New Hampshire.
The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee voted 3-2 to declare House Bill 1356 “inexpedient to legislate.” The measure, which passed the full House, 194-147, on March 16, will be scheduled for consideration by the full Senate.
Under present law, the hunting season for gray squirrels runs Sept. 1 through Jan. 31.
Democratic state Rep. Cathryn Harvey of Spofford was a co-sponsor of the original bill, which would have delayed the start of the season until Sept. 15 to give lactating female squirrels more time to care for their young.
But the House Fish and Game and Marine Resources Committee reversed the intent of the bill on Jan. 25, amending it at the request of Rep. Tim Lang, R-Sanbornton, to allow these animals to be shot at any time.
On Tuesday, Harvey, who represents Chesterfield, Westmoreland, Hinsdale and Walpole, told the Senate committee the state Fish and Game Department has the expertise, information and responsibility for setting hunting seasons, not the Legislature.
Declaring an open season for gray squirrels amounts to a legislative overstep, she said.
Harvey said the department has a good track record of managing wildlife, including turkey, which was reintroduced in selected places such as Walpole in the 1970s and now proliferates around the state and can be hunted at certain times of the year.
“Some of you may be saying squirrels are not endangered, there’s lots of them, and that’s true,” Harvey said. ”But you have to remember that everything that is living on this earth has a place in the food chain.
“So if we have any decline in our squirrel population for any reasons, whether it’s hunting or some sort of catastrophic weather event, that can affect those animals that use the squirrel as their food: our fisher, our bobcats, our weasels, any number of animals that depend on an adequate supply of squirrels.”
She also said the bill is not necessary because state law already allows people to kill squirrels that are damaging property.
Others argue it would be better to be able to kill squirrels before the damage begins.
States throughout the region have hunting seasons for the gray squirrel. Maine, Massachusetts and Rhode Island have shorter seasons than New Hampshire does, Dan Bergeron, chief of the Fish and Game Department’s wildlife division, told the panel.
He asked the committee to oppose the bill.
Weldon Bosworth, a Gilford resident who holds a doctorate in biology, said squirrels can help a forest to regenerate by moving around seeds and nuts.
He also said it would be a poor precedent for the Legislature to remove one animal from Fish and Game’s responsibility to set seasons.
“I’d just like to draw an analogy,” he said. “We’re talking about squirrels now, but let’s say someone came in and wanted to reduce the bag limit on white-tailed deer. You go to a hearing on this and all of a sudden comes an amendment that says the hunting season on white-tailed deer is open throughout the year.”
Rep. Lang testified in favor of declaring open season on squirrels, noting there is an open season on other rodents such as porcupine, groundhogs and red squirrels.
He said gray squirrels can cause a lot of damage to buildings and agricultural operations and can carry disease.
“With such big-eyed cuteness, it’s hard for many to regard squirrels as the troublesome pest that they really can be,” Lang said. “While they may appear soft, fluffy and harmless, the gray squirrel is nevertheless a nuisance pest.”
Rep. Howard Pearl, R-Loudon, also urged the panel to recommend the bill for passage.
He said squirrels damage sap lines in his large maple-sugaring operation and eat his squash.
“The gray squirrels and the other squirrels and the chipmunks are a huge nuisance for us,” he said. “Red squirrels don’t have any season, and we can take those any time of the year, but gray squirrels do have a season and I personally don’t see the difference myself.”
Gray squirrels, which are larger than red squirrels, are sometimes hunted for meat.
Sen. James Gray, R-Rochester, spoke of squirrel cuisine.
“As a child, my mother was very, very sick with the flu,” he said. “And one of the fondest memories of her childhood is her father going out and harvesting a gray squirrel and making squirrel soup with that for her recovery.”
Rick Green can be reached at rgreen@keenesentinel.com or 603-355-8567. These articles are being shared by partners in The Granite State News Collaborative. For more information visit collaborativenh.org.