Feed a squirrel, get a summons or worse
Toth call ordinance amendment 'ridiculous'
BY PATRICIA A. MILLER Staff Writer
Brick Township Councilman Daniel Toth didn't mince words about a recent ordinance amendment that forbids feeding squirrels or stray animals on public or private property.

"I think it's ridiculous," Toth said at the Oct. 23 Township Council meeting.

Still, he voted along with the rest of the council to introduce the amendment, which forbids "Feeding of Wild Animals and Stray Domestic Animals."

The amendment was necessary to bring the township ordinance into compliance with an Ocean County Board of Health ordinance that forbids ground feeding of squirrels and other rodents, Township Attorney Jean Cipriani said.

"It makes our ordinance match," Cipriani said.

"I do feed squirrels," Toth said. "I feed practically every form of wildlife.

"I understand it (the amendment) coordinates with the county's. But I disagree with the county and state. I really like squirrels."

A "general penalty" would be assessed against anyone who does not comply with the amendments. That could include an initial warning to stop feeding the animals, or if a summons is issued, the possibility of a fine, community service or theoretical jail time, she said.

Brick's municipal court judge would decide the penalty if a summons were issued, Cipriani said.

Alex DePalma, a 38-year resident, told the council during the public portion of the meeting that his new next-door neighbor has made his life "a horror story" since he moved in and began feeding birds and squirrels.

The neighbor put up birdfeeders around his property and on the side that abuts his house, Cipone said.

"My grandchildren can't go outside," he said. "The squirrels are all over the place. It's not only the squirrels, it's the birds. I have bird cr- all over my driveway."

Cipone said his wife has a "phobia" about birds.

"I purchased an air horn," he said. "So when my wife leaves the house, the squirrels and birds scatter."

When he asked the neighbor stop putting birdfeeders so close to his property, the neighbor refused, Cipone said.

"I invite all of you to come to my house," he said. "This guy is new. He's driving me crazy. I don't want to do anything that will get me into trouble. It's one big mess."

The amendment allows people to feed "certain small wild animals" and birds on their properties, "in a manner commonly or ordinarily used for the feeding of those wild animals and birds, such as bird feeders or other receptacles."

"This exception does not permit the feeding or rodents, including, but not limited to squirrels as the ground feeding of such animals is prohibited by the Ocean County Board of Health's public nuisance regulations," the amendment states.

What are "certain small animals"? Apparently anything that's not a rodent, Cipriani said.

"I don't think woodchucks are rodents," she said after the meeting. "You could leave food out for woodchucks."

The amendment also allows "humane acts" in individual cases, such as the temporary care of a wounded bird, wild animal or stray domestic animal on a resident's property, according to the ordinance.

The police department, code enforcement officer and the Board of Health would enforce the ordinance, according to the amendment.

"There are people who will go out and through tons of seeds and feed on the ground for squirrels," Council President Stephen C. Acropolis said. "And once a squirrel comes to your house or your neighbor's house, they will never leave."

How did the amendment come about?

"Certain residents brought it to the attention of the township that this was in conflict with the county's ordinance," Cipriani said.