GAME AND FISH LAWS.

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An Act to license the killing of beaver, to prescribe a closed season therefor, and to provide penalties for the violation thereof.

[Act 206, P. A. 1911.]

The People of the State of Michigan enact:

CLOSED SEASON FOR BEAVER. UNLAWFUL POSSESSION.

(344) § 7516. SECTION 1. It shall not be lawful for any person to take, trap, hunt, shoot, kill or molest, or attempt to take, trap, hunt, shoot, kill or molest any beaver from and including the sixteenth day of April to and including the thirty-first day of October of each year, nor shall any person have in possession the carcass or skin of any beaver that was killed during the time when the killing thereof is by this act prohibited, unless having attached thereto a seal as hereinafter provided.

Am. 1919, Act 317.

See appendix for orders closing or suspending open season for taking or hunting game or fur-bearing animals or game birds in certain counties, under the provisions of Act 9, P. A. 1917, sections 296-300 of this compilation.

PERMIT TO TAKE BEAVER.-LICENSE.

(345) § 7517. SEC. 2. No person shall take, kill or molest any beaver without having obtained a license from the county clerk of the county in which said applicant resides or proposes to take and kill beaver, as prescribed in section three of this act.

Am. Id.

COUNTY CLERK TO ISSUE LICENSE.-FEE.

-RECORD.-SEALS.

(346) § 7518. SEC. 3. It shall be the duty of any county clerk, to issue a license to take and kill not to exceed fifteen beaver to any person who shall pay to said clerk therefor the sum of ten dollars. It shall be the duty of the said county clerk at the time of issuing said license:

(a) To enter a full description of said applicant in a book, to be provided for that purpose by the State game, fish and forest fire commissioner, which description shall

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contain the name, age, and residence of the applicant, and such a description of the person as to make identification possible, together with the number and date of said license. The license issued to such applicant shall contain all the requisites set forth in subdivision (a) of this section;

(b) To issue to the applicant seals, hereinafter described, equal in number to the beaver authorized to be taken under said license, and to immediately notify the State game, fish and forest fire commissioner of the number of the license, and the name of the person to whom issued; such seals to be of aluminum or other suitable material, to be designed and stamped in such a manner as to render duplication or counterfeit thereof impracticable, to be prepared under the direction of and furnished by the State game, fish and forest fire commissioner to the several county clerks upon application therefor.

Am. Id.

RECEIPTS FOR SEALS.-ACCOUNT OF SEALS.

(347) § 7519. SEC. 4. The State game, fish and forestry warden shall require a receipt from county clerks for seals so furnished to them in accordance with section three, and shall keep an accurate account of the seals issued to each county clerk. Each year within ten days after the close of the season during which beaver are hereby authorized to be taken, the several county clerks to whom seals have been delivered, shall return to the State game, fish and forestry warden the seals remaining in his possession, together with a statement of the beaver license money eollected by him during the preceding year.

NUMBER MAY BE KILLED.

(348) § 7520. SEC. 5. It shall be unlawful for any person to take and kill more than four beaver from any one family or colony of beavers.

SALE OF SKINS.-CANCELLATION OF SEALS.-OUTLAWED SKINS. -EXHIBITION OF CANCELLED SEALS.

(349) $ 7521. SEC. 6. No person shall sell or dispose of, or attempt to sell or dispose of, or have in his possession any beaver skin or skins unless such skin or skins

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shall have been taken under legal license and each of which skins shall have securely fastened thereto by a strong tenacious wire a lawful seal such as is described in section three of this act. Before any licensee shall sell or dispose of or attempt to sell or dispose of any beaver skin taken under the provisions of this act, and on or before the tenth day of November of each year, and before any subsequent license shall be issued to such licensee, he shall take the skins so taken by him, together with the seals attached thereto, to the county clerk who issued the license under which such skins were taken, whereupon the said county clerk shall puncture and thoroughly cancel such seals. Any beaver skin or skins not manufactured or not in the process of manufacture, not so lawfully taken and not so provided with lawful seals, punctured and cancelled as herein provided, found in the possession of any person or persons, other than licensees, shall be outlaw and shall be forfeited to the State. Any person or persons having beaver skins in his or their possession in the process of manufacture, shall have in his or their possession, and shall exhibit to the State game, fish and forestry warden or to any of his deputies when required, the punctured and cancelled seals hereinbefore provided for, and which shall have been attached to such skins, which seals shall entitle him or them to the possession of such skins, otherwise such skins shall be outlaw and shall be forfeited to the State.

ADDITIONAL LICENSES.

(350) 8 7522. SEC. 7. County clerks shall issue additional licenses to applicants upon complying with the conditions hereinbefore provided, which licenses shall in all respects conform to that issued in the first instance. Am. 1919, Act 317.

FEE OF COUNTY CLERK.--DISPOSITION OF BALANCE.

(351) § 7523. SEC. 8. The county clerk of each county shall be entitled to one dollar for each license issued by him in accordance with the provisions of this act, which shall compensate him for taking affidavit and performing all other duties in connection therewith as provided for in this act, and at the end of each month shall remit to the State treasurer the balance of all fees received by him for

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the sale of all licenses issued by him during such month, which shall by the State treasurer be credited to the game protection fund to be used by the State game, fish and forestry warden for the purpose of enforcing the game and fish laws of this State.

7524. SEC. 9.

PENALTY.

(352) Any person who shall violate any of the provisions of this act shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction shall be punished by a fine not less than ten dollars, nor more than one hundred dollars, together with costs of prosecution, or by imprisonment in the county jail for not more than sixty days, or by both such fine and imprisonment in the discretion of the court, and shall forfeit to the State the skins illegally taken or held. In cases in which a fine with costs is imposed, the court shall sentence the offender to be confined in the county jail until such fine and costs are paid, but for a period not exceeding the maximum jail penalty provided for the offense: Provided, That this act shall not take effect until the first day of January, in the year nineteen hundred thirteen.

Sec. 10 repeals inconsistent acts.

An Act to prohibit the taking, killing, trapping or molesting of certain fur-bearing animals at certain times, and to prohibit the destruction or the molesting of the houses, holes or habitats of certain fur-bearing animals at all times. (a) (b)

(353)

[Act 183, P. A. 1909.]

The People of the State of Michigan enact:

FUR-BEARING ANIMALS PROPERTY OF STATE.

§ 7510.

SECTION 1. All wild fur-bearing animals found in this State are hereby declared to be the property of the State.

GAME AND FISH LAWS.

CLOSED SEASON.-FIRE-ARMS OR EXPLOSIVES PROHIBITED IN HUNTING MUSKRATS. UNLAWFUL POSSESSION.

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(354) 7511. SEC. 2. No person shall take, trap, hunt, shoot, kill, or molest or attempt to take, trap, hunt, shoot, kill, or molest any otter, fisher, martin or mink from and including the fifteenth day of February to and including the fifteenth day of November of each year: Provided, That in counties lying north of the parallel running north of range twenty north no person shall take, trap, hunt, shoot, kill or molest or attempt to take, trap, hunt, shoot, kill or molest any muskrat from and including the fifteenth day of April to and including the fifteenth day of October of each year, or any muskrat from and including the first day of April to and including the fifteenth day of December following of each year, or any raccoon from and including the first day of January to the fifteenth day of October of each year. It shall be unlawful to use any firearms, except a twenty-two caliber rifle in hunting muskrats, or to use spears, explosives, chemicals or mechanical devices or smokers of any kind to drive muskrats or other protected furbearing animals out of their holes or homes, nor shall any person knowingly have in possession the carcass or skin of any of the fur-bearing animals herein mentioned killed during the time when the killing thereof is by this act prohibited, except as hereinafter provided.

Am. 1917, Act 186; 1919, Act 371.

See appendix for orders closing or suspending open season for taking or hunting game or fur-bearing animals or game birds in certain counties, as provided for by Act 9, P. A. 1917, compiler's sections 296-300.

BEAVER, MUSKRAT AND RABBIT HOUSES.

(355) § 7512. SEC. 3. No person, when hunting or trapping, shall destroy, disturb or molest any beaver, muskrat or rabbit house, hole, habitat or other excavation which may be used or occupied by such game or fur-bearing animals, nor at any time set any trap within six feet of a muskrat house or hole; nor shall any person stake, put out or set traps at any time preceding the day on which the open season for the taking of fur-bearing animals begins: Provided, That this section shall not apply to rabbits in townships lying north of township sixteen north.

Am. Id.