Spokane7
49°
February 2, 2010 in City, Region
Agency chided over Capitol lawn’s illegal mole traps
Devices banned by initiative a decade ago
OLYMPIA – A state agency has used illegal traps to kill moles around the Capitol and the governor’s mansion for about a decade, ever since voters banned them with an initiative.
That surprised another state agency, the Department of Fish and Wildlife, which enforces the law against “body-gripping” traps. On Tuesday, it issued a warning to the General Administration department, the same thing it would do to a homeowner found using the traps.
General Administration has used the spring-loaded steel traps for years in the late winter to kill moles, which do significant damage on the Capitol grounds, said Steve Valandra, a department spokesman: “We want to get to the moles before they start breeding.”
The department thought the traps had been exempted from the law, Valandra said. It has seven of the traps, which typically kill a couple dozen moles as they are moved around the grounds, based on some sign of the critters.
That stopped Tuesday, after state Rep. Joel Kretz, R-Wauconda, got a call from a constituent who spotted a trap near a trail by the old state Conservatory. Kretz checked out the traps on Monday, and was convinced they were banned by the 2000 initiative.
“A private citizen would be in trouble for using these traps,” Kretz said, adding there was a safety concern. “I was worried about a kid coming along and putting their hand in there.”
He knows the law has not been amended, because he’s tried unsuccessfully to get some exemptions for landowners in remote areas and knew which agency to call.
Craig Bartlett, a spokesman for Fish and Wildlife, said it seems odd General Administration was using the traps 10 years after they’d been outlawed. But even though the two agencies are just across the street from each other, Fish and Wildlife is treating this like any first-time offense: with a warning and an investigation.
No private citizen has received more than a warning for using this particular type of trap, Bartlett said, although a few commercial exterminators have been cited for using them.
Valandra agreed the traps were effective, but now General Administration will have to look at other ways to kill the moles. They’ve applied for a permit for other types of traps that are legal.
But they’ve rejected a tactic the Spokane Parks and Recreation Department employed briefly against ground squirrels at Finch Arboretum: pumping propane into the holes and igniting it.
“We’re not thinking about using that,” he said of the Rodenator. “We heard it didn’t work well anyway. The ground squirrels came back.”
Romney/Paul split weighing on county GOP 
Albert on February 02 at 6:31 p.m.
Sounds like “entrapment” :)
polistra on February 02 at 6:34 p.m.
The envirotyrants who pushed that initiative should be required to trap all the moles, GENTLY, by hand, with no tools or gloves, and then take the moles into personal custody in a Minimally Restrictive Environment, i.e. their own houses. Then the moles should be maintained with proper food and medical care for the remainder of their natural lives.
Or take back the initiative. Pick one.
Rodenator on February 03 at 2:45 p.m.
Mr. Valandra,
Listen here knuckle head, don’t go shooting off your mouth about the Rodenator not working. What would you know? The squirrels are back at Finch Arboretum because they stopped using the Rodenator. It works better than any trap and I am willing to back it up. Watch the videos at rodenator.com and tell me it doesn’t work. Leave me a post here if you want me to show you that it does work.
Having a Blast!
Rodenator