Yes, it is legal to kill squirrels in Massachusetts, but only in two situations: during the regulated hunting season with a valid license, or on your own property when a squirrel is actively damaging it. Gray and red squirrels are both game species managed by the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife (MassWildlife), and the rules change sharply depending on which situation you’re in. Getting them confused can mean fines, lost hunting privileges, or criminal charges.
Killing a Squirrel That’s Damaging Your Property
Under M.G.L. Chapter 131, Section 37, a property owner or tenant may kill or trap any mammal found damaging their property. The same right extends to immediate family members and employees you authorize.1General Court of Massachusetts. Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 131 Section 37 No hunting license is required.
The word that matters is “damaging.” A squirrel sitting on your fence is not a lawful target. A squirrel chewing attic wiring, tearing through insulation, or gnawing structural wood is. The animal has to be causing damage or threatening safety at the time you act.
There’s a reporting requirement people miss. If you take squirrels under the property-damage provision, you owe MassWildlife an annual written report by January 31 of the following year, listing the number and kinds of animals taken.1General Court of Massachusetts. Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 131 Section 37 Skip the report and a lawful kill becomes a violation.
Methods You Can and Can’t Use
Poison is off the table. You may not use poison to kill any wildlife, even animals inside a building.2Mass.gov. Learn About Squirrels Consumer rodenticides like D-Con are formulated and legal only for rats and mice indoors; using them on squirrels is illegal and dangerous, because a poisoned squirrel can kill the raptors, pets, and other scavengers that eat its carcass.
Snares and most body-gripping traps are also banned. A 1996 ballot initiative codified in M.G.L. c.131 ยง80A effectively outlawed steel-jaw leghold, padded leghold, and most Conibear-style traps. Conibear traps may be used only underwater for beaver or muskrat under a special permit. For squirrels, your legal options are box traps, cage traps, and common mouse or rat snap traps. Shooting is also permitted where it’s otherwise safe and legal to discharge a firearm.
MassWildlife suggests a .22 caliber rifle or a shotgun with #6 shot or smaller as practical choices for nuisance squirrel work where firearm use is safe and allowed.2Mass.gov. Learn About Squirrels
If you catch a squirrel alive, you cannot drive it to the woods or a park. State law prohibits moving a trapped squirrel off the property where it was caught.3Mass.gov. Moving Wildlife A trapped animal must either be released on the same property or humanely killed.2Mass.gov. Learn About Squirrels Relocation spreads disease and is itself a violation.
Hiring Someone to Handle It
If the person doing the work is not you, your immediate family, or your full-time employee, Section 37 limits their trapping outside the open season unless you obtain a permit from MassWildlife’s director or they hold a trapping license.1General Court of Massachusetts. Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 131 Section 37 In practice, that means hiring a licensed Problem Animal Control (PAC) agent. PAC agents are authorized by MassWildlife to handle gray, red, and flying squirrels and are held to the same trap restrictions as homeowners.
Hunting Squirrels: Season, License, and Bag Limits
For hunting rather than nuisance removal, the gray squirrel season runs from the first Tuesday after Labor Day through the last day of February in Wildlife Management Zones 1 through 14. Hunting is prohibited on Sundays, and the season closes during the two-week shotgun deer season. The daily bag limit is five gray squirrels, and you may not possess more than ten at any time.4Mass.gov. Gray Squirrel Hunting Regulations
Anyone 15 or older needs a valid Massachusetts hunting or sporting license. To buy one, you must hold a Basic Hunter Education certificate from any state or have held a hunting or sporting license before January 1, 2007; otherwise, you need to complete the Basic Hunter Education course first.5Mass.gov. Who Needs Basic Hunter Education? Licenses are sold through MassFishHunt online, at authorized retailers, and at MassWildlife offices.
Shotguns and archery are the primary legal methods statewide. Rifles and handguns of any caliber are completely prohibited for squirrel hunting in Wildlife Management Zones 10 through 14, which cover the more densely populated eastern part of the state. Trapping or netting squirrels for hunting purposes is illegal, except under the property-damage and nuisance control provisions above.6Legal Information Institute. Massachusetts Code 321 CMR 3.02(7) – Hunting of Gray Squirrels
Where You Can Actually Shoot
Firearm safety zones catch more suburban hunters than any other rule. It is illegal to discharge a firearm or release an arrow within 150 feet of a state or hard-surfaced highway. You also cannot possess a loaded firearm or hunt by any means on someone else’s land within 500 feet of an occupied dwelling, unless the owner or occupant has given permission.7General Court of Massachusetts. Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 131 Section 58 Five hundred feet is roughly a football field and a half; in many neighborhoods, that rules out firearm use entirely. On your own property the dwelling buffer doesn’t apply to you, but the highway distance still does.
Penalties if You Get It Wrong
Section 90 of Chapter 131 sets out a tiered penalty schedule. One commonly cited tier, covering wildlife sanctuary and protected species violations, carries a fine of $200 to $500, up to 30 days in jail, or both, for each animal taken or killed.8Mass.gov. Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 131 Section 90 Other violations in Chapter 131 carry their own ranges.
On top of any criminal penalty, illegally taking or possessing a gray squirrel triggers a $50 restitution fee per animal, payable to the Commonwealth.9General Court of Massachusetts. Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 131 Section 90 Several squirrels add up quickly.
A conviction for certain hunting violations also costs you your license, which must be surrendered to an enforcement officer, and no new license will be issued for at least one year.8Mass.gov. Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 131 Section 90 The Massachusetts Environmental Police enforce these laws and investigate illegal hunting reports statewide.