UPDATE May 22: Sargent Nardi of the Massachusetts Environmental Police cites MGL Ch.131, s.43 and confirms poison is illegal to use on public or private land.
UPDATE, May 18: Pat Huckery of the Massachusetts Fish and Game states:
“On poison – with the exception of poison for mice/rats, the substance must be in an enclosed “dispenser.” All poison is illegal in MA regardless of public or private land. Poisoning opossum is illegal in all forms.”
UPDATE, April 18: Delia Kaye was unclear as to the legality of the traps and indicated that since this is private land, this is not under the NRC’s jurisdiction. However, the Concord Police assure me that there are NO traps in the woods at this time. We are still trying to understand why they were being used or considered, but we will update the site when we have more information. Thank you.
A comment received from the Pippen Land Trust:
“Thank you for posting the Pippin Tree Land Trust Forest Legacy Conservation information on your website. It is verification to everyone that this land is indeed private and as such a private property owner may allow dogs, stipulate dogs are to be on a leash, or not allow dogs at all. The easement restricts public use to the main trail only which is the trail that crosses the property directly from Estabrook Trail to Punkatasset Pond. It is not carte blanche permission to utilize the entire 73 acre forest it preserves. Logging is scheduled for sometime in 2018 and poison bate traps are set at various times. Please attend to your animals. Trails will be closed during logging due to the danger of falling trees and heavy equipment.”
April 18 from Pippin Land Trust:
To answer some email questions: If and when there are bait traps set, the site and the trail head will be so marked.
We had difficulties with opossums carrying EPM to our breeding farm which borders our forestry land some years back. Therefore we push back the bait boundaries into the woods for preventative measures. Dog owners should be aware that EVERY farm deals with rodent and pest control. It is always wise to be alert with your animals on the surrounding land. Our dogs were no exception.