They shouldn't have to tell you. And yet the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation feels compelled to anyway.
"Don't paint the squirrels."
The agency's Monday quip came after a 62-year-old New York man was charged for doing just that last month.
Get Tri-state area news and weather forecasts to your inbox. Sign up for NBC New York newsletters.
Putnam County's probation department alerted animal welfare authorities to the bizarre crime after Mark Kuhn, a Patterson resident, allegedly admitted to trapping squirrels in metal cages and coloring them "Apple Red" using a Rust-Oleum Paint + Primer spray can.
Kuhn then released the animals somewhere else in town, according to the Putnam County SPCA. He allegedly did it to keep track of those returning to his yard and causing his dogs to bark.
Detectives and Department of Environmental Conservation police interviewed Kuhn on Saturday, Jan. 13, and he was later charged with three counts of poisoning or attempting to poison animals, which is a misdemeanor in the state of New York, as well as other violations under environmental conservation laws.
Local
Authorities found the paint and two traps at Kuhn's property.
Kuhn is on probation for an unrelated crime. Attorney information for him was not immediately available.
