Furbearers

DNR promotes sustainable and compatible uses of the furbearer resource.  Hunting and trapping seasons and bag limits are established based on furbearer biology, distribution and abundance of each species, public interests and needs and the incidence of furbearer damage complaints.  The following species are managed as "furbearers" in Maryland: muskrat, beaver, raccoon, red fox, gray fox, nutria, opossum, mink, skunk, river otter, fisher, long-tailed weasel, coyote and bobcat.

Rabies Precaution
Rabies has been diagnosed, primarily in raccoons, in all Maryland counties.  For up-to-date information, contact your local Health Department.  Trappers and raccoon hunters should consult their physicians for advice on pre-exposure rabies vaccine.  Please use care when handling any animal.

General Furbearer Regulations
License requirements: A Maryland resident must possess a valid hunting license to hunt or trap on another person's property, including public lands.  Nonresident hunters must possess a valid Nonresident Hunting License.  Nonresident trappers are required to have both a Nonresident Hunting License and a Nonresident Trapping License.  Nonresident Trapping Licenses can be purchased by contacting: Permits Coordinator, DNR Wildlife & Heritage Services, P.O. Box 309, Clear Spring, MD 21722, 301-842-0332.

No furbearer taken during the legal trapping season can be transported from the point of capture until it has been killed.

Harvesting the following species by any means other than trapping is prohibited: muskrat, mink, long-tailed weasel, river otter and beaver.  Nonresidents are not permitted to harvest beaver or river otter.

Destroying or distributing furbearer dens is prohibited.

A permit is required to possess the meat or skinned carcass of a furbearer for more than 10 days after the season has closed.  Permits can be obtained from the Maryland Natural Resources Police (NRP).

The pelt or unskinned carcasses of all otter and fisher harvested in Maryland must be tagged within 15 days after the season has closed.  Otter and fisher pelt tags may be obtained by contacting local offices of either the DNR Wildlife & Heritage Service or NRP. 

The pelts or unskinned carcasses of furbearers harvested in Maryland, and then transported across the state line must have a "Fur Shipping Tag" accompanying them.  These tags are available by contacting local offices of either the DNR Wildlife & Heritage Service or NRP.

Fox restrictions: Some counties have local restrictions governing fox hunting and trapping, and the possession of foxes and/or their pelts.  For detailed information, contact local law enforcement authorities.

The following restrictions apply:
    In Charles and Dorchester Counties, a person may hunt, trap or possess the pelt of a fox any time of the year.
    It is unlawful to kill a fox being pursued by dogs in the following counties: Cecil, Harford, Kent, St. Mary's and
        Wicomico.   
    In Caroline County, unless a fox is in the act of pursuing, attacking, wounding or destroying livestock, a person may not
        shoot, gig, trap, bait or in any manner take, destroy or attempt to destroy a fox.

Furbearer Hunting and Chasing Regulations
Firearm and/or bow hunting of red fox, gray fox, coyote, skunk, fisher, raccoon, opossum and nutria is permitted.  Shooting of all other furbearer species is prohibited.  Rifles used for hunting nutria are limited exclusively to .22 caliber rimfire rifles.

Unarmed fox chasing is not classified as hunting by law, and is therefore not subject to DNR hunting regulations.  Permits may be required to chase foxes on certain public lands.  All activities on DNR owned and managed properties are subject to DNR public land regulations.  With the exception of unarmed fox chasing, fox hunting with the aid of dogs is prohibited during the deer firearms season.

With the exception of nutria, hunting furbearers on Sunday is prohibited.

Legal hunting hours for raccoon and opossum are from sunset to sunrise except Sundays.  Hunting for these species is prohibited for the period extending from sunrise until midnight on Sundays.  Raccoons that are destroying muskrats and/or their dens may be hunted any time of the year by owners of the affected marshlands or their employees.

The use of light and/or dogs is permitted while hunting raccoon, fox, opossum or coyote on foot.  Fox, coyote, raccoon, and opossum can be hunted with the aid of electronic calling devices.  Daytime and nighttime hunting for fox is permitted during the legal harvest season for foxes.  Coyote can be hunted at night during the period specified in the furbearers seasons and bag limits chart.  At all other times of the year, coyote may only be hunted during the legal daylight shooting hours.

Furbearer Trapping Regulations
Written permission is required to trap on another person's property, including publicly owned properties.

Traps must be checked once per calendar day except in tidal marshes and bodies of water influenced by daily tidal flow.  Traps set in these areas must be checked once every 36 hours.

In tidal areas, landowners and their agents or lessees have exclusive rights to muskrats and other furbearers above the mean low water line.

Legal trapping devices include: box traps, snares, foothold (leghold) traps and body-gripping traps.  Legal use of these devices is subject to compliance with the following restrictions and conditions.

Foothold (Leghold) Traps
    The use of toothed or serrated jawed traps is prohibited.  All traps must possess smooth jaws.
    Traps set above the waterline must not exceed a maximum jaw spread of 5.75 inches.  Traps set below the waterline and
        completely submerged cannot exceed a maximum jaw spread of 7.75 inches.
    In Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Montgomery and Prince George's Counties, traps cannot be set to capture furbearers unless
        completely submerged in water subject to the following exceptions:
                Traps can be set above the waterline on farmland by the owner(s) of the property, member of owner(s)
                    immediate family that reside on the property and the landowner(s) agent, tenant or lessee.
                Traps can be set above the waterline in response to wildlife control concerns by authorized agents of the DNR,
                    and according to guidelines established by DNR.

Snare Traps
    It is illegal to use, sell, possess, set, place or maintain a snare trap in Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Carroll, Cecil, Harford,
        Montgomery and Prince George's Counties.

Body-Gripping Traps
    Body-gripping traps with a diameter of greater than 8 inches cannot be set unless completely submerged in water.
    Body-gripping traps with a diameter of 8 inches or less can be set in tidal wetlands, flooded non-tidal wetlands, fresh
        water marshes, wooded swamps, bogs in areas where water covers the surface of the soil, or in areas where the soil is
        waterlogged to the surface.

Setting or maintaining any foothold (leghold), body-gripping or snare trap within 150 yards of a permanent human residence is prohibited with the following exceptions:
    On state, federal or private wetlands.
    On lands that qualify for agricultural assessment, timberlands and lands used for restoration.
    In Harford and Howard Counties, landowners and lessees of privately-owned land may set or maintain the above
        described traps on their property as long as they are not within 150 yards of another person's permanent residence.
        This regulation does not apply to the use of body-gripping traps with a diameter of less than 6 inches and set
        completely submerged in water.