SECTIONS 4180-4190 - California Statutes

FISH AND GAME CODE

SECTION 4180-4190

4180. (a) Except as provided for in Section 4005, fur-bearing
mammals that are injuring property may be taken at any time and in
any manner in accordance with this code or regulations made pursuant
to this code. Raw furs, as defined in Section 4005, that are taken
under this section, shall not be sold.
(b) Traps used pursuant to this section shall be inspected and all
animals in the traps shall be removed at least once daily. The
inspection and removal shall be done by the person who sets the trap
or the owner of the land where the trap is set or an agent of either.

4180.1. It is unlawful to use snares, hooks, or barbed wire to
remove from the den, or fire to kill in the den, any immature
depredator mammal.
Nothing in this section shall prohibit the use of fire-ignited gas
cartridges or other products registered or permitted under the
Federal Insecticide, Rodenticide, and Fungicide Act (7 U.S.C. 135 et
seq.).

4181. (a) Except as provided in Section 4181.1, any owner or tenant
of land or property that is being damaged or destroyed or is in
danger of being damaged or destroyed by elk, bear, beaver, wild pig,
wild turkeys, or gray squirrels, may apply to the department for a
permit to kill the animals. Subject to the limitations in
subdivisions (b) and (d), the department, upon satisfactory evidence
of the damage or destruction, actual or immediately threatened, shall
issue a revocable permit for the taking and disposition of the
animals under regulations adopted by the commission. The permit shall
include a statement of the penalties that may be imposed for a
violation of the permit conditions. Animals so taken shall not be
sold or shipped from the premises on which they are taken except
under instructions from the department. No iron-jawed or steel-jawed
or any type of metal-jawed trap shall be used to take any bear
pursuant to this section. No poison of any type may be used to take
any gray squirrel or wild turkey pursuant to this section. The
department shall designate the type of trap to be used to ensure the
most humane method is used to trap gray squirrels. The department may
require trapped squirrels to be released in parks or other
nonagricultural areas. It is unlawful for any person to violate the
terms of any permit issued under this section.
(b) The permit issued for taking bears pursuant to subdivision (a)
shall contain the following facts:
(1) Why the issuance of the permit was necessary.
(2) What efforts were made to solve the problem without killing
the bears.
(3) What corrective actions should be implemented to prevent
reoccurrence.
(c) With respect to wild pigs, the department shall provide an
applicant for a depredation permit to take wild pigs or a person who
reports taking wild pigs pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section
4181.1 with written information that sets forth available options for
wild pig control, including, but not limited to, depredation
permits, allowing periodic access to licensed hunters, and holding
special hunts authorized pursuant to Section 4188. The department may
maintain and make available to these persons lists of licensed
hunters interested in wild pig hunting and lists of nonprofit
organizations that are available to take possession of depredating
wild pig carcasses.
(d) With respect to elk, the following procedures shall apply:
(1) Prior to issuing a depredation permit pursuant to subdivision
(a), the department shall do all of the following:
(A) Verify the actual or immediately threatened damage or
destruction.
(B) Provide a written summary of corrective measures necessary to
immediately alleviate the problem.
(C) Determine the viability of the local herd, and determine the
minimum population level needed to maintain the herd.
(D) Ensure the permit will not reduce the local herd below the
minimum.
(E) Work with affected landowners to develop measures to achieve
long-term resolution, while maintaining viability of the herd.
(2) After completing the statewide elk management plan pursuant to
Section 3952, the department shall use the information and methods
contained in the plan to meet the requirements of subparagraphs (C),
(D), and (E) of paragraph (1).

4181.1. (a) Any bear that is encountered while in the act of
inflicting injury to, molesting, or killing, livestock may be taken
immediately by the owner of the livestock or the owner's employee if
the taking is reported no later than the next working day to the
department and the carcass is made available to the department.
(b) Notwithstanding Section 4652, any wild pig that is encountered
while in the act of inflicting injury to, molesting, pursuing,
worrying, or killing livestock or damaging or destroying, or
threatening to immediately damage or destroy, land or other property,
including, but not limited to, rare, threatened, or endangered
native plants, wildlife, or aquatic species, may be taken immediately
by the owner of the livestock, land, or property or the owner's
agent or employee, or by an agent or employee of any federal, state,
county, or city entity when acting in his or her official capacity.
The person taking the wild pig shall report the taking no later than
the next working day to the department and shall make the carcass
available to the department. Unless otherwise directed by the
department and notwithstanding Section 4657, the person taking a wild
pig pursuant to this subdivision, or to whom the carcass of a wild
pig taken pursuant to this subdivision is transferred pursuant to
subdivision (c), may possess the carcass of the wild pig. The person
in possession of the carcass shall make use of the carcass, which may
include an arrangement for the transfer of the carcass to another
person or entity, such as a nonprofit organization, without
compensation. The person who arranges this transfer shall be deemed
to be in compliance with Section 4304. A violation of this
subdivision is punishable pursuant to Section 12000. It is the intent
of the Legislature that nothing in this subdivision shall be
interpreted to authorize a person to take wild pigs pursuant to this
subdivision in violation of a state statute or regulation or a local
zoning or other ordinance that is adopted pursuant to other
provisions of law and that restricts the discharge of firearms.
(c) The department shall make a record of each report made
pursuant to subdivision (a) or (b) and may have an employee of the
department investigate the taking or cause the taking to be
investigated. The person taking a wild pig shall provide information
as deemed necessary by the department. Upon completion of the
investigation, the investigator may, upon a finding that the
requirements of this section have been met with respect to the
particular bear or wild pig taken under subdivision (a) or (b), issue
a written statement to the person confirming that the requirements
of this section have been met. The person who took the wild pig may
transfer the carcass to another person without compensation.
(d) Notwithstanding Section 4763, any part of any bear lawfully
possessed pursuant to this section is subject to Section 4758.
(e) Nothing in this section prohibits federal, state, or county
trappers from killing or trapping bears when the bears are killing or
molesting livestock, but no iron-jawed or steel-jawed or any type of
metal-jawed trap shall be used to take the bear, and no person,
including employees of the state, federal, or county government,
shall take bear with iron-jawed or steel-jawed or any type of
metal-jawed traps.

4181.2. For the purposes of this article relating to damage caused
by wild pigs, "damage" means loss or harm resulting from injury to
person or property. The department shall develop statewide guidelines
to aid in determining the damage caused by wild pigs. The guidelines
shall consider various uses of the land impacted by pigs.

4181.5. (a) Any owner or tenant of land or property that is being
damaged or destroyed or is in immediate danger of being damaged or
destroyed by deer may apply to the department for a permit to kill
those deer. The department, upon satisfactory evidence of that damage
or destruction, actual or immediately threatened, shall issue a
revocable permit for the taking and disposition of those deer for a
designated period not to exceed 60 days under regulations promulgated
by the commission.
(b) The regulations of the commission shall include provisions
concerning the type of weapons to be used to kill the deer. The
weapons shall be those as will ensure humane killing, but the
regulations of the commission shall provide for the use of a
sufficient variety of weapons to permit the designation of particular
types to be used in any particular locality commensurate with the
need to protect persons and property. Firearms using .22-caliber
rimfire cartridges may be used only when authorized by the director
or his designee. No pistols shall be used. The caliber and type of
weapon to be used by each permittee shall be specified in each permit
by the issuing officer who shall take into consideration the
location of the area, the necessity for clean kills, the safety
factor, local firearms ordinances, and other factors that apply.
Rifle ammunition used shall have expanding bullets; shotgun
ammunition shall have only single slugs, or, if authorized by the
department, 0 or 00 buckshot.
(c) The department shall issue tags similar to those provided for
in Section 4331 at the same time the permit is issued. A permittee
under this section shall carry the tags while hunting deer, and upon
the killing of any deer, shall immediately fill out both parts of the
tag and punch out clearly the date of the kill. One part of the tag
shall be immediately attached to the antlers of antlered deer or to
the ear of any other deer and kept attached until 10 days after the
permit has expired. The other part of the tag shall be immediately
sent to the department after it has been countersigned by any person
authorized by Section 4341.
(d) A permit issued pursuant to this section may be renewed only
after a finding by the department that further damage has occurred or
will occur unless that permit is renewed. A person seeking renewal
of the permit shall account for all prior tags issued at the time he
or she received any prior permits, and if any tags are unused, he or
she shall show either that any deer killed could not reasonably be
tagged or why the killing was not accomplished within the allotted
time and why that killing would be accomplished under a new time
period.

4185. In any district or part of a district within San Bernardino
and Riverside Counties, bears may be taken at any time with traps
within a good and substantial fence, as such fence is described in
Section 17121 of the Food and Agricultural Code, surrounding
beehives, if no part of the fence is at a distance greater than 50
yards from a beehive, and if a conspicuous sign is posted and
maintained at each entrance to the enclosed premises to give warning
of the presence of the traps. No iron or steel-jawed or any type of
metal-jawed trap shall be used to take bear under this section.

4186. Nothing in this code prohibits the owner or tenant of land,
or any person authorized in writing by that owner or tenant, from
taking cottontail or brush rabbits during any time of the year when
damage to crops or forage is being experienced on that land. Any
person other than the owner or tenant of the land shall have in
possession when transporting rabbits from the property, written
authority from the owner or tenant of land where those rabbits were
taken. Rabbits taken under this section shall not be sold.

4188. (a) If a landowner or tenant applies for a permit under
Section 4181 for wild pigs or wild turkeys, or under Section 4181.5
for deer, the department shall notify the landowner or tenant about
available options for allowing access by licensed hunters, including,
but not limited to, access authorized pursuant to Article 3
(commencing with Section 1570) of Chapter 5 of Division 2 to control
wild pigs, wild turkeys, and deer.
(b) The commission, in lieu of a permit as described in
subdivision (a), and with the consent of, or upon the request of, the
landowner or tenant, under appropriate regulations, may authorize
the issuance of permits to persons holding valid hunting licenses to
take wild pigs, wild turkeys, or deer in sufficient numbers to stop
the damage or threatened damage. Before issuing permits to licensed
hunters, the department shall investigate and determine the number of
permits necessary, the territory involved, the dates of the proposed
hunt, the manner of issuing the permits, and the fee for the permit.

4190. The department shall tag, brand, or otherwise identify in a
persistent and distinctive manner any large depredatory mammal
relocated by, or relocated with the approval of, the department for
game management purposes.