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Staff seeks DNR help to expand trapping options for nuisance animals
Summary
Kosciusko County drainage staff said animal-control costs were about $21,000, described current permitting limits for trappers and asked the state DNR to consider opening season or permitting options so more trappers can help remove nuisance animals that damage infrastructure.
A Kosciusko County drainage staff member asked the state Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to consider expanding hunting or trapping options to help remove nuisance animals that damage drainage infrastructure.
The staff member said the county spent about $21,000 on animal control last year and described the current approach where county trappers operate under special permits to remove animals outside normal seasons when they cause infrastructure damage. "With the appropriate permitting ... the trapper's part to the state. And then we can hire them to take these animals," the staff member said.
Why it matters: the county’s landscape of lakes and wetlands creates a larger population of nuisance animals than many other counties, the staff member said. Expanding permissive seasons or permitting rules, they argued, could allow more trappers to remove animals on private property and reduce infrastructure damage.
Next steps: the staff member said they were collecting data to show the DNR and to request broader permission or adjustments to permitting that would let additional trappers operate without a special license in some cases. No formal policy change was taken at the meeting; the staff member said this would be part of a request to state authorities.
