The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
DEEP looking for people to work with pheasants
Seasonal Resource Assistants sought to help with ringnecked pheasant stocking across the state
This job is for the birds.
The state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection is looking to hire three to seven Seasonal Resource Assistants to work for its pheasant program to assist with ringnecked pheasant stocking across the state.
In a job posting this week, DEEP says the positions are 35 to forty 40 hours, three to four days per week, Monday through Saturday, between 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. (hours flexible). Occasional evening work required.
The length of position is approximately three months (no more than 1,030 hours), starting in early October. The pay rate varies from $11 to $13 per hour, “depending on education and experience.”
Selected candidates will report to Eastern District Headquarters in Marlborough; Franklin Wildlife Management Area in Franklin; or Sessions Woods in Burlington; depending on their assigned pheasant stocking route.
What does a Seasonal Resource Assistants for Pheasants do?
“These positions will be responsible for a wide variety of tasks, including but not limited to loading and unloading heavy crates, driving a 4WD vehicle in difficult terrain, handling live birds and working in areas where hunting is occurring.”
DEEP says, “today, throughout Connecticut, pheasant habitat is marginal at best, so the population of ringnecks cannot maintain itself naturally in sufficient numbers to withstand current hunting pressure. As a result, yearly replacement through stocking, which continues on a level of approximately 15,000 to 20,000 birds annually, is necessary.”
The fact is that ringnecked pheasants aren’t native to Connecticut or North America.
The beautifully multihued birds were introduced from Asia in the late 1800s as game. The state did attempt to create a selfsustaining population by prohibiting the shooting of hen pheasants. But that effort ended in 1949 with the cancellation of the hen pheasant hunting ban.
About 80 percent the thousands of pheasants stocked by the state are taken by hunters.
Last year, DEEP stocked 20,000 adult pheasants.
All pheasant hunters must purchase a Resident Game Bird Conservation Stamp, along with a hunting license. The Resident Game Bird Conservation Stamp is also required for those who wish to hunt wild turkey, ruffed grouse, bobwhite quail, and chukar and Hungarian partridge.
The stamp costs $28 for adults and nonresidents. Connecticut resident youth hunters (ages 1217) can purchase the stamp for a discounted price of $14. All revenues from the sale of Resident Game Bird Conservation Stamps will be deposited into a separate, nonlapsing account to use exclusively for the purchase and management of game birds and their habitat.