The House of Delegates voted overwhelmingly yesterday to allow for the incidental taking of the Delmarva fox squirrel, which has a place on the state’s threatened and endangered species list.

The General Assembly has made such an exception before — for the Puritan tiger beetle, whose breeding can clash with development because of the way its larvae tunnel into the ground. The Maryland Department of Natural Resources has been working with private forest landowners to develop a regional habitat conservation plan for the squirrel on the Eastern Shore. The bill would authorize DNR to issue permits for the incidental taking of the squirrel under certain conditions.