State California FGC Sec 3000-3012 General Provisions Methods of Taking (BIRDS AND MAMMALS) FISH AND GAME CODE SECTION 3000-3012 3000. It is unlawful to take any bird or mammal, except a nongame mammal, between one-half hour after sunset and one-half hour before sunrise of the following day at the place of taking, except as otherwise provided in this code or under such regulations as the commission may adopt. The commission may adopt regulations prohibiting the taking of any nongame mammal between one-half hour after sunset and one-half hour before sunrise of the following day at the place of taking. 3001. It is unlawful to take birds or mammals with firearms or with bow and arrow when intoxicated. 3002. It is unlawful to shoot at any game bird or mammal, including a marine mammal as defined in Section 4500, from a powerboat, sailboat, motor vehicle, or airplane. 3003. (a) It is unlawful for any person to shoot, shoot at, or kill any bird or mammal with any gun or other device accessed via an Internet connection in this state. (b) It is further unlawful for any person, firm, corporation, partnership, limited liability company, association, or other business entity to do either of the following: (1) Own or operate a shooting range, site, or gallery located in the state for purposes of the online shooting or spearing of any bird or mammal. (2) Create, maintain, or utilize an Internet Web site, or a service or business via any other means, from any location within the state for purposes of the online shooting or spearing of any bird or mammal for the purposes of this section. (c) It is unlawful to possess or confine any bird or mammal in furtherance of an activity prohibited by this section. (d) It is unlawful for any person in this state to import into, or export from, this state any bird or mammal, or any part thereof, that is killed by any device accessed via an Internet connection. (e) Any bird or mammal, or any part thereof, that is possessed in violation of this section shall be subject to seizure by the department. (f) For the purposes of this section, "online shooting or spearing" means the use of a computer or any other device, equipment, software, or technology, to remotely control the aiming and discharge of any weapon, including, but not limited to, any firearm, bow and arrow, spear, slingshot, harpoon, or any other projectile device. 3003.1. Notwithstanding Sections 1001, 1002, 4002, 4004, 4007, 4008, 4009.5, 4030, 4034, 4042, 4152, 4180, or 4181: (a) It is unlawful for any person to trap for the purposes of recreation or commerce in fur any fur-bearing mammal or nongame mammal with any body-gripping trap. A body-gripping trap is one that grips the mammal's body or body part, including, but not limited to, steel-jawed leghold traps, padded-jaw leghold traps, conibear traps, and snares. Cage and box traps, nets, suitcase-type live beaver traps, and common rat and mouse traps shall not be considered body-gripping traps. (b) It is unlawful for any person to buy, sell, barter, or otherwise exchange for profit, or to offer to buy, sell, barter, or otherwise exchange for profit, the raw fur, as defined by Section 4005, of any fur-bearing mammal or nongame mammal that was trapped in this state, with a body-gripping trap as described in subdivision (a). (c) It is unlawful for any person, including an employee of the federal, state, county, or municipal government, to use or authorize the use of any steel-jawed leghold trap, padded or otherwise, to capture any game mammal, fur-bearing mammal, nongame mammal, protected mammal, or any dog or cat. The prohibition in this subdivision does not apply to federal, state, county, or municipal government employees or their duly authorized agents in the extraordinary case where the otherwise prohibited padded-jaw leghold trap is the only method available to protect human health or safety. (d) For purposes of this section, fur-bearing mammals, game mammals, nongame mammals, and protected mammals are those mammals so defined by statute on January 1, 1997. 3003.2. Notwithstanding Sections 4003, 4152, 4180, or 4180.1 of this code or Section 14063 of the Food and Agricultural Code, no person, including an employee of the federal, state, county, or municipal government, may poison or attempt to poison any animal by using sodium fluoroacetate, also known as Compound 1080, or sodium cyanide. 3003.5. It is unlawful to pursue, drive, or herd any bird or mammal with any motorized water, land, or air vehicle, including, but not limited to, a motor vehicle, airplane, powerboat, or snowmobile, except in any of the following circumstances: (a) On private property by the landowner or tenant thereof to drive or herd game mammals for the purpose of preventing damage by such mammals to private property. (b) Pursuant to a permit from the department issued under such regulations as the commission may prescribe. (c) In the pursuit of agriculture. 3004. It is unlawful for any person, other than the owner, person in possession of the premises, or a person having the express permission of the owner or person in possession of the premises, to hunt or to discharge while hunting, any firearm or other deadly weapon within 150 yards of any occupied dwelling house, residence, or other building or any barn or other outbuilding used in connection therewith. The 150-yard area is a "safety zone." 3005. (a) It is unlawful to take birds or mammals with any net, pound, cage, trap, set line or wire, or poisonous substance, or to possess birds or mammals so taken, whether taken within or without this state, except as provided in this code or, when relating to ongoing mining operations, in accordance with a mitigation plan approved by the department. (b) (1) Mitigation plans relating to mining operations approved by the department shall, among other criteria, require avoidance of take, where feasible, and include reasonable and practicable methods of mitigating the unavoidable take of birds and mammals. When approving mitigation plans, the department shall consider the use of the best available technology on a site-specific basis. (2) Mitigation plans relating to mining operations approved by the department shall include provisions that address circumstances where mining operations contribute to bird deaths, including ponding of process solutions on heap leach pads and exposure of process solution channels, solution ponds, and tailing ponds. (3) The mine operator shall prepare a mitigation plan that shall be submitted to the department for approval. For ongoing mining operations, the mitigation plan shall result in an overall reduction in take of avian or mammal species. The department shall provide an opportunity for public review and comment on each mitigation plan during the department's approval process. The mitigation plan shall be prepared on a site-specific basis and may provide for offsite mitigation measures designed to reduce avian mortality. The mine operator shall submit monthly monitoring reports on avian mortality to the department to aid in evaluating the effectiveness of onsite mitigation measures. (4) The department shall monitor and evaluate implementation of the mitigation plan by the mine operator and require modification of the plan or other remedial actions to be taken if the overall reduction in take of avian or mammal species required pursuant to paragraph (3) is not being achieved. (5) The mining operator shall reimburse the department for its direct costs to provide appropriate notice of the mitigation plan to affected local government entities and other affected parties. The mine operator shall provide the department a limited number of copies, as determined by the department, of the mitigation plan for public review. (c) Proof of possession of any bird or mammal that does not show evidence of having been taken by means other than a net, pound, cage, trap, set line or wire, or poisonous substance, is prima facie evidence that the birds or mammals were taken in violation of this section. (d) This section does not apply to the lawful taking of fur-bearing mammals, nongame birds, nongame mammals, or mammals found to be injuring crops or property, to the taking of birds or mammals under depredation permits, to taking by employees of the department acting in an official capacity, or to taking in accordance with the conditions of a scientific or propagation permit by the holder of that permit. 3005.5. It is unlawful to capture any game mammal, game bird, nongame bird, nongame mammal, or furbearer, or to possess or confine any live game mammal, game bird, nongame bird, nongame mammal, or furbearer taken from the wild, except as provided by this code or regulations made pursuant thereto. Any bird or mammal possessed or confined in violation of this section shall be seized by the department. The commission may promulgate regulations permitting the temporary confinement of game mammals, game birds, nongame birds, nongame mammals, or furbearers for the purpose of treating the animals, if injured or diseased. 3005.9. (a) It is unlawful to possess or confine any live cat (family Felidae), except house cats (Felis domesticus), except as provided in this division and in Section 3202. Any cat possessed or confined in violation of this section may be seized by the department for disposal as directed by the commission. The commission shall adopt regulations permitting the temporary confinement of cats, other than house cats, for the purpose of required veterinary treatment or care, or for utilization in television or motion picture productions. The following institutions, as defined, are exempt from this section: (1) Any zoo, as defined in Section 2150. (2) Any university, college, governmental research agency, or other bona fide scientific institution, as determined by the department, engaging in scientific or public health research. (b) The following organizations or individuals, as defined by the commission, in compliance with permits and standards, as specified by the commission, that safeguard the health and well-being of cats are exempt from the provisions of subdivision (a): (1) Circuses. (2) Other professional exhibitors qualified by the department and licensed by the United States Department of Agriculture. (3) Dealers and breeders qualified by the department and licensed by the United States Department of Agriculture. (4) Wildlife rehabilitation centers, as qualified by the department. (c) Subdivision (a) of this section shall not prohibit the possession or confinement of any cat by a person who had lawful possession of the cat on January 1, 1979, pursuant to a permit issued by the department under Section 2150 or Section 3200. The annual fee for the permit shall be set by the department in an amount calculated to cover the costs of administration. Progeny determined to have been conceived before January 1, 1979, are exempt from subdivision (a) of Section 3005.9 but are subject to department regulations regarding their possession or confinement. (d) Cats possessed pursuant to subdivisions (b) and (c) of this section may be sold, transferred, or disposed of to the institutions or individuals defined as exempt under this section, when the sale, transfer or disposal is pursuant to a department permit. The permit shall specify the terms and conditions of sale, transfer, or disposal. These cats shall not be sold, transferred, or disposed of to private individuals. The commission shall adopt regulations regarding the possession or confinement of progeny determined to have been conceived after January 1, 1979. These cats may be sold, transferred, or disposed of to the institutions defined as exempt under this section, when the sale, transfer, or disposal is pursuant to a department permit. The permit shall specify the terms and conditions of sale, transfer, or disposal. These cats shall not be sold, transferred, or disposed of to private individuals. This section does not apply to the lawful taking of mammals found to be injuring crops or property, or to the taking of mammals under depredation permits, or to the lawful taking of these mammals as authorized by the commission. 3005.91. The department or an eligible local entity, pursuant to regulations of the commission, shall inspect the cat facilities of each person holding a permit issued pursuant to regulations of the commission authorizing the possession of a cat, other than a house cat. These inspections shall be to ensure that the animal is being held in conformity with law. The department or an eligible local entity shall collect an inspection fee in an amount determined by the department pursuant to Section 2150.2. The fee shall be paid over to the department. 3005.92. (a) The commission shall promulgate regulations regarding the possession and confinement of privately owned cats (family felidae) other than house cats. Such regulations shall include the following requirements: (i) Specific cage or enclosure standards for each cat species. Such requirements shall be met by any person applying for a permit or renewal of a permit prior to such issuance or renewal. (ii) That every cat be inspected by a licensed veterinarian every year, who shall thereafter issue a health certificate. The certificate shall be attached to the cage or enclosure of the examined cat. (b) When it is shown that the holder of a permit issued pursuant to Section 2150, or a license issued pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 3202, authorizing the possession or confinement of a cat, has been convicted of a violation of Section 3005.92, such permit or license may be revoked. 3005.93. The department shall make available upon request information on the possession of a cat, other than a house cat, and information on regulations and standards applicable to permit holders. 3005.94. The director may appoint a committee to advise him on the care of cats, other than house cats. 3006. Except as authorized under a domesticated game breeder's license, any deer, elk, or bear kept in captivity may be killed only with the approval of the department, and under such regulations as the commission may prescribe. The carcass, or any part thereof, of any such mammal may not be sold, and shall be disposed of in such manner as the department may direct. 3007. Every person who takes any bird or mammal shall procure a license or permit therefor. 3008. The physical control of a dog by its owner while the dog is engaged in hunting in an area where the owner is otherwise authorized to hunt, shall be as required by this code or regulations made pursuant thereto. Dogs which are used for hunting which have been vaccinated for rabies in their county of residence in conformity with state law regulating vaccinations in rabies areas are not subject to rabies vaccination requirements of local ordinances outside their county of residence. 3009. Every person who while taking any bird or mammal kills or injures another person by the use of any firearm, bow and arrow, spear, slingshot, or other weapon or device used in such taking and who knowingly either abandons such person or fails to render to such injured person all necessary aid possible under the circumstances is guilty of a felony. 3010. It is unlawful for any person to take any pheasant within 300 yards of any vehicle from which pheasants are being released into an area for hunting while such pheasants are being released. 3011. No person, including employees of the state, federal or county government, shall take bear with iron or steel-jawed or any type of metal-jawed traps, and no provision of this code or any other law shall be construed to authorize, or to permit the authorizing of, the use of iron or steel-jawed or any type of metal-jawed traps to take bear. 3012. It is unlawful to use any recorded or electrically amplified bird or mammal calls or sounds, or recorded or electrically amplified imitations of bird or mammal calls or sounds, to assist in taking any bird or mammal, except nongame birds and nongame mammals as permitted by regulations of the commission.