Independent New Hampshire Journalism · Northfield, NHWild New Hampshire
A bear on the deck, a moose in the road, a cat that might not be a bobcat. Send the photo or the video, and tell GSR when and where.
Animal hurt, someone in danger, or a crime?
- People in danger: call 911.
- A wildlife emergency or a wildlife crime in progress: New Hampshire Fish and Game dispatch, (603) 271-3361, 24 hours a day.
- Poaching or another wildlife law violation: Operation Game Thief, 1-800-344-4262, 24 hours a day.
- An orphaned deer, moose, or bear: Fish and Game, (603) 271-3361. For other young animals that look orphaned, and for bear questions, the Wildlife Division: (603) 271-2461 or wildlife@wildlife.nh.gov.
- An injured animal: only people with a rehabilitator permit from Fish and Game may take in and care for injured or orphaned wildlife. The department keeps a list of licensed rehabilitators.
- A bear in the birdfeeder or the chickens: USDA Wildlife Services, (603) 223-6832, the number Fish and Game lists for wildlife conflicts.
Then send GSR the footage.
New Hampshire Fish and Game says it has never received verifiable evidence, photographic or DNA, of mountain lions living in the state. Reports that came with photographs, it says, have been misidentified bobcats or house cats, or mountain lion pictures taken from the internet. That is the kind of question a good photo settles. Granite State Report wants the bear in the yard, the moose in the road, the animal acting strangely, and the one nobody can name, and it checks each one before it runs.
What to send
- The original file, straight from your phone, camera, or trail camera. Not a screenshot or a copy saved from social media. The original can carry the date, the time, and the place.
- When and where: the date, the time, the town, and the spot.
- What you think it is, and about how far away it was.
- Anything unusual: an animal that looked sick, hurt, tagged, collared, or out of place.
If the species is on its list, report it to NH Wildlife Sightings too; the list centers on the species the state’s Wildlife Action Plan names as in greatest conservation need. That project is a joint effort of Fish and Game, the University of New Hampshire, the NH Natural Heritage Bureau, and NH Audubon, and it uses photos so wildlife professionals can confirm what the animal is.
What you are agreeing to
By sending, you confirm and accept the following.
- You took the photo or video yourself, or you have the right to send it.
- You keep your copyright. Granite State Report may review what you send, show it to experts asked to help check it, and, if it becomes part of a story, publish it with the credit you choose under “Add details” in the box below: your name, or no name at all.
- Granite State Report decides whether and how to publish, publishes nothing on one person’s word, and does not pay for footage.
- Faces of people who did not agree to be shown, and anything that identifies a child, are blurred or cut before anything runs. If the exact spot you filmed from is private, say so in your note and it stays out.
How your name and contact details are handled, and the legal limits of what any newsroom can promise, are on Send a Tip.
Send it
Drop the file in the box. Nothing has to be typed, but the time and the place are what let GSR check it. Any file type, up to 2 GB each and 50 at a time.
Drop files here, or paste
Drag files anywhere on this page, paste a screenshot or a file with Ctrl+V or ⌘V, or tap to choose. Any file type, up to 2 GB each, up to 50 files at once.
Choose filesAdd details (all optional)
Keep your distance
- Moose. Fish and Game’s warning: “Moose are bigger and faster than any person and give little warning before attacking a perceived threat.” The department says no one should ever approach them, however calm they seem.
- Bears. “If you see a bear, keep your distance,” the department says. New Hampshire sets no distance in feet. Yellowstone National Park, for comparison, requires visitors to stay at least 100 yards from bears. A long lens beats a short walk.
- Never feed or bait an animal for a picture. Fish and Game says it is illegal to intentionally feed bears in New Hampshire. Under its rule, Fis 310.01, a person told by the department to stop putting out what draws bears can be fined for not doing it.
- Stay where you are allowed to be. Under New Hampshire’s criminal trespass law, a person is guilty if, “knowing that he is not licensed or privileged to do so, he enters or remains in any place” (RSA 635:2, I). No clip is worth a charge.
- Drones. Recreational flyers must pass the FAA’s free online safety test, known as TRUST, and carry proof of it. They must stay at or below 400 feet in uncontrolled airspace and need FAA authorization, through LAANC or DroneZone, to fly in controlled airspace near airports (FAA, Recreational Flyers).
How GSR checks it
- Time and place, from the original file and your note.
- The animal: what it is, checked with wildlife biologists and, where it matters, Fish and Game.
- The picture: a reverse image search, because a photo that has run somewhere before is not a new sighting.
- People: neighbors, other witnesses, other cameras on the same road.
Every submission ends one of three ways. Confirmed, and GSR says what it shows. Not what it looked like, and GSR says what it was. Not enough to go on, and nothing runs.
More from GSR on wildlife: Coyotes in NH: A Guide to Understanding Our Wild Neighbors.
Other places to report
- A mountain lion: Fish and Game’s Wildlife Division, (603) 271-2461 or wildlife@wildlife.nh.gov, for an observation report form.
- Species on its reporting list: NH Wildlife Sightings. Not every species can be reported there.
- Emergencies, crimes, and injured animals: the numbers at the top of this page.
