The carcasses of about 20 beavers and coyotes were dumped on private property near Galilee Road in Union County, along with lots of other trash and garbage.
The beavers were probably trapped and skinned for their pelts, said a spokesman for the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission.
Mike Loftin, county judge of Union County, said the property was cleaned up on Friday morning and that there were no suspects. The investigation into the dumping of the animal carcasses and trash is continuing.
"We got it taken care of," Loftin said Friday. "We just don't know who did it."
According to the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, beavers and coyotes fall into the category of "furbearers," which also includes badgers, bobcats, gray and red foxes, minks, muskrats, nutria, opossums, raccoons, river otters, spotted and striped skunks and weasels.
It is legal to kill these animals while in season -- Sept. 1 through March 31 for beavers and July 1 through Feb. 29 for coyotes. The animals can be killed with archery weapons, a gun no larger than a .22-caliber or a shotgun no larger than a T-shot.
However, "beaver, coyote, muskrat, nutria, opossum, raccoon, squirrel, striped skunk and non-game wildlife other than migratory birds and endangered species that are causing damage to personal property may be taken during daylight hours or trapped the entire year," according to the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission. These are classified as nuisance animals.
To trap furbearers, a hunter must be at least 16 years old and must have a valid Arkansas hunting license. Resident trappers 16 and older must have a valid resident trapper permit in addition to a hunting license. Nonresident trappers 16 and older must have a valid nonresident trapper permit in addition to their hunting license, according to the Game and Fish Commission.
The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission defines litter as "all waste that has been discarded or otherwise disposed of, including but not limited to convenience food and beverage packages or containers, trash, garbage, all other product packages or containers and other post consumer solid wastes as referenced in State Law or discarded game animal carcasses."
It is also "against state law as well as Regulation 22 of the Arkansas Pollution Control and Ecology Commission to dispose of animal carcasses, or any other material considered a solid waste, by dumping the material on the ground," according to a spokesman for the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality. An inspector would be assigned if the landowner or any other person wished to make a formal complaint regarding the incident.
Since a coyote is considered a game animal, it is illegal to discard, or allow to go to waste, any edible portion. Edible portions include the front quarters, hindquarters, loins and tenderloins.
It is also illegal to dispose of unused portions of game animal carcasses on cemetery property, in streams, rivers, ponds, lakes or within 50 yards of the centerline of a public road, according to the Game and Fish Commission.
The person who disposed of the carcasses will not only be charged with trespassing on private property but also will be charged with littering, since the carcasses found were within 50 yards of the centerline of Galilee Road, according to the Game and Fish Commission spokesman.
The search for a suspect will continue, and a concerned resident reported that he was told cameras would be installed to monitor Galilee Road.
State Desk on 02/01/2016