Let Go and Let Nature Be

Posted on by Joan OBrien in Programs, Wild Animals

The world is losing nature at a remarkable pace, and New Hampshire is no exception. The crisis spares no creature — mammals, fish, birds, amphibians, reptiles, and even the tiniest invertebrates are disappearing.

The culprits? Rampant development, widespread pesticide use, and climate change. Safeguarding habitats is no longer enough — we must enable nature to expand.

The good news is that simply by letting land be, allowing nature to reclaim its space, we can help imperiled species rebound.

83% of land in the U.S. is privately owned. If we planted native on 50% of private land we would restore biodiversity… and we can do it starting NOW.

Doug Tallamy
© Caelin Graber

9 ways to promote wildlife

  • Don’t mow
  • Leave leaves
  • Keep your trees!
  • Plant for pollinators
  • Landscape for wildlife
  • Use non-lethal methods to deter unwelcome wildlife
  • Lights off at night
  • Retire your bug zapper
  • Build homes for animals

Pledge A Plot

How much of your land are you prepared to dedicate to the wild?

Resources

Join the NH Turtle Brigade

Posted on by NHARL in Programs, Wild Animals

Turtles look tough, but they are in trouble! New Hampshire has 7 species of turtles and 4 are considered in greatest need of conservation. Worldwide, 50% of modern turtles are either threatened or extinct.

Major threats to turtles include loss of habitat due to development and roadways. Other threats include plastic trash, dogs, non-native turtles released into the wild, and the illegal wildlife trade — that’s right, people actually steal turtles from their natural habitats here in New Hampshire and sell them, often to China.

Every turtle is a miracle! Eggs and young turtles are food for many other animals. A turtle that beats the odds and makes it to adulthood can take up to 20 years to reproduce.

Join the Turtle Brigade

Want to help us help turtles? NH Animal Rights League is forming a “Turtle Brigade” to formulate a plan for better protecting New Hampshire turtles from unnatural hazards. Early ideas include assisted crossings, wide use of signage, and protecting/creating nesting sites. Implementation will begin Spring 2025.

Please sign up if you might like to be involved. Signing up is not a commitment!

  • Feel free to provide some additional information about your interest in turtles and any turtle experience or expertise you might have. Thank you!
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Ways to help turtles

  • Watch for turtles crossing the road and assist them if necessary
  • Support conservation efforts
  • Don’t disturb nesting turtles
  • Watch dogs around wetlands
  • Learn your turtles and report sightings to
    RAARP@wildlife.nh.gov
  • Contact NHARL to help us help turtles!

The Ride of the Turtle Brigade

On June 8, 2024, the Turtle Brigade embarked on its very first mission. Our assignment? To remind the public that it’s turtle crossing season and to LOOK OUT!

Tessa, the giant paper mache turtle, led the way as the brigade traveled from Milford, north to Goffstown, and then east to Bedford.

At predetermined locations along this route, the brigade created a spectacle and erected signs at known turtle crossing sites. The signs are intended to remain for the season and will be removed in the fall.

Fortunately, we had lovely weather, so Tessa was able to stay atop the vehicle upon which she was born to ride.

Working as a team, we were able to erect signs quite efficiently, though we did encounter a few obstacles.

The lessons we learned from the mission will help make next year’s turtle brigade even better! If you’d like to help, sign up for the Turtle Brigade (above). Monthly planning meetings will begin the first week in September. We need your creative ideas and expertise.

Our native turtles face many challenges, of which car collisions are only one. However, “every turtle is a miracle”, and every turtle matters. So, even if we helped one turtle make it across the road this season unharmed, it was worth the effort.

Oh, and we forgot to mention, it was also quite fun!

© Caelin Graber

Free Smart Mouse Trap

Posted on by NHARL in Programs, Wild Animals

Walk down the “pest” control aisle of the average home and garden store, and you may get the impression that we are at war with every other living creature (except, of course, our pets). This anthropocentric perspective — the idea that humans are at the center of the world — can be so ingrained that many don’t think to question it.

We encourage a different perspective, one where humans are part of — not apart from — the rest of the living world, and where the goal is peaceful co-existence.

Humane Mouse Control

In New Hampshire, mice getting into the home is a common problem, especially in the fall when these animals are looking for a warm place to spend the winter. Unfortunately, most home and garden stores are in the business of selling inhumane, temporary solutions for dealing with mice. Of the many lethal traps and poisons for sale, glue traps may well be the cruelest. Glue traps kill indiscriminately, and animals stuck to them die slowly of hunger, dehydration, and exhaustion. Poison is also inhumane, as well as irresponsible. Poison bait blocks are formulated to contain only a low dose of poison, so that if a child or pet accidentally ingests the product, it will not be fatal. But for the mouse, the low dose means a slow death, often spanning days. In their sluggish state, poisoned mice are easy targets for predators, including foxes, eagles, and other protected birds, who often become sick and die from consuming poisoned mice.

Compassionate and responsible approaches for dealing with mice include exclusion, natural odor repellents, and ultrasonic devices. If uninvited guests still manage to get in, you can use a live mouse trap to catch and relocate them outside in a brushy or wooded area.

The Smart Mouse Trap

Video of Smart Mouse Trap in action posted on YouTube. (The video does not demonstrate the time-delay release feature.)

Get Your Free Live Mouse Trap

Our favorite live mouse trap is the Smart Mouse Trap, because of its effective and thoughtful design. We like it so much that we are offering free samples while supplies last. (For NH residents only. One trap per household.)

In return for your free trap, we will add you to our News & Events email list and send a follow-up message in about a month to ask about your experience with the Smart Mouse Trap. Take pictures and we’ll post them on social media!

  • This offer is for New Hampshire residents only.
  • Recipients will be added to our News & Events email list.
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About The Smart Mouse Trap

A special feature of the Smart Mouse Trap is its time-delay release mechanism, which involves inserting a cracker into a slot. When the inner door is removed, the cracker becomes a second door that the mouse will chew through to exit the trap. The delay while the mouse chews protects you from contact with the mouse, and also allows the mouse to escape without panic.

“I have Smart-Trapped 53 mice and released them, humanely...”

Smart Mouse Trap Customer

“Your Smart Mouse Trap is a beautiful expression of humaneness. Once caught, the mice can be released in the woods, to be free and in peace.”

Smart Mouse Trap Customer

Free No Hunting Signs

Posted on by NHARL in Programs, Wild Animals
Posting your land against hunting creates safe haven for people, pets, and wildlife. We will send you as many free “No Hunting” signs as you need, to make it easy for you to post your property.
Request Free Signs
Along with your signs, we’ll send you a copy of the NH Landowner’s Guide to Protecting Your Property, which explains how and when to post, along with other useful information. Click to view

About protecting your property

People are often surprised to learn that by default privately owned land in New Hampshire is open to hunting. 

This means that if you do not put up “No Hunting” signs, anyone with a hunting license can come on your property and hunt.

It is even legal for hunters to set up tree stands and observation blinds on your property from Apr 25–Jun 1 and Aug. 1–Dec. 31 in the absence of “No Hunting” signs. (Written permission is required to bait or trap animals on your property, however.)

Other states have what’s called “reverse posting,” which means privately owned land is off limits by default.

Allowing public use of private land is a tradition that dates back to New Hampshire’s first settlers.

Back then, when wild land was abundant and people depended on animal meat and fur for survival, the idea of public access to private land for the “public good” made sense.

But today, the New Hampshire landscape is completely changed. There is far less undeveloped land left for wildlife, and only a small percentage of people hunt.

Expecting today’s landowners to forego their property rights and leave their land open to hunting is an outdated notion.

Request Free Signs

Grants for Living with Beavers

Posted on by NHARL in Programs, Wild Animals
Apply for a Grant

As a “keystone species,” beavers provide vital habitat for many plants and animals, including threatened and endangered species. Beavers also offer wonderful wildlife watching opportunities.

The New Hampshire Animal Rights League encourages individuals and organizations — as well as businesses and towns — experiencing problems with beavers to seek solutions for peaceful co-existence, rather than resorting to trapping.

Wildlife control operators hired to trap beavers are likely to assure a property owner that the animal will die instantly and “humanely.” This is disingenuous because there is no guarantee it will happen that way, and even in the best of circumstances death is not instant.

Living with beavers may require more up-front effort and expense than trapping, but a beaver management system is a long-term solution. Trapping only removes the current beavers. If the habitat is attractive, it’s likely another beaver family will move in. Removing adults also risks leaving dependent youngsters behind; young beavers stay with their parents for two years.

Matching Grants

NHARL offers matching grants of up to $1,000 to individuals, organizations, businesses, and municipalities looking to install non-lethal solutions for managing beavers in New Hampshire. (For those in Massachusetts, the MSPCA offers funding for installing flow devices.)

To date, NHARL has awarded more than $10,000 in grants to individuals and organizations seeking peaceful co-existence with beavers.

Applications can be submitted any time of year.

Apply for a Grant

Successful projects

Recommended Beaver Consultants

NHARL has worked with and recommends the beaver experts listed below. These consultants can also recommend other installers,  whom they have worked with or trained.

Skip Lisle of Beaver Deceivers
Rick Hesslein delivering equipment to a job site

Videos

Time-lapse video of Mike Callahan of Beaver Solutions installing a culvert protection cage.

How Beavers Build Dams — Leave It to Beavers (PBS video)

A family of beavers, snug inside their lodge (video by Jeff Hogan)

Learn More