Problem Solving
Is It Illegal to Have Bird Feeders Up in Bear Season?
No state we checked bans a bird feeder by name. What gets a feeder owner cited is a law against feeding or attracting bears, and whether your feeder falls under it turns on one word in the statute: intentionally, or negligently.
The short answer
- A bird feeder is not illegal in itself in any of the six states on this page. It becomes illegal when it counts as feeding or attracting a bear under that state's law.
- In Washington and Alaska the rule covers negligent attraction, so a feeder can be the offense without any intent to feed a bear. Washington's wording covers food that "could attract" one.
- In Colorado, Vermont, Connecticut and New Jersey the law targets intentional or knowing feeding. There, the risk begins when you keep filling a feeder you know a bear is using.
- The dates you see quoted, such as April 15 to November 15 in Colorado, are agency advice, not law. The New Jersey 10 foot, bring-it-in-nightly rule was a 2024 bill, not the statute.
- The penalties we could confirm run from a $100 fine in Colorado to a civil penalty of up to $1,000 per offense in New Jersey, where each day of a continuing violation counts separately.
Usually not by itself, but it can be, and the answer depends less on the calendar than on how your state's law is worded. None of the six state rules we read bans a bird feeder by name. Each prohibits feeding or attracting bears, and the question is whether a feeder put out for chickadees counts.
That turns on intent. Washington and Alaska prohibit negligently attracting bears, so a feeder can break the law with no intent at all. Colorado, Vermont, Connecticut and New Jersey prohibit intentional or knowing feeding.
This page covers only what we read in the primary text: the statute or regulation itself, or the state wildlife agency's own page. The practical case for taking feeders down is on bird feeders and bears; this page is the legal half.
The rules, state by state#
"Intent needed" is the column that decides whether an ordinary feeder can be an offense.
| State | Rule | Intent needed? | Dated window | Penalty |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Washington | RCW 77.15.790 and 77.15.792 | No. Negligently attracting a bear, cougar or wolf is enough | None in the statute | Infraction if negligent; misdemeanor if intentional, or if the food is not removed within 24 hours of an infraction |
| Alaska | 5 AAC 92.230 | No. Negligently leaving food in a manner that attracts bears is prohibited | None in the regulation; it applies all year | Not stated in the regulation |
| New Jersey | N.J.S.A. 23:2A-14 | Yes for feeding. Storing attractants where bears are known to frequent is also covered, but "unintentional feeding" is exempt | None in the statute | Civil penalty up to $1,000 per offense, each day counts separately, written warning required first |
| Vermont | 10 V.S.A. § 4827a | Yes. Knowingly feeding a bear | Agency advice: feeders only December 1 to March 31 | No fine set in the section; the Commissioner can order food removed |
| Colorado | State law as summarized by Colorado Parks and Wildlife | Yes. Intentionally feeding bears | Agency advice: no feeders April 15 to November 15 | $100 fine |
| Connecticut | Public Act 23-77 | Yes. Intentional feeding of potentially dangerous animals | Agency advice: down by mid-March, back out in late fall | Not stated in DEEP's guidance |
Not one of these six sets a legal calendar for feeders. Every date in the table is agency advice, the same kind behind when to take your feeders down. What the law does set is the intent standard, and that matters more than the fine.
Vermont names the bird feeder, just not where you expect
The one statute here that mentions bird feeders is Vermont's, and it does so in a clause about self-defense of property. Anyone who has intentionally placed food "including placing food within a bird feeder" to lure wildlife onto the property within the past 30 days is barred from taking a bear that is doing damage there. A full feeder in June can cost you a legal option in July.
Negligent versus knowing#
Knowing or intentional feeding requires that you meant to feed the bear, or knew you were doing it. Vermont's statute prohibits knowingly placing food "in a manner intended to lure a bear to feed." New Jersey's covers food put out "with the intention of feeding, attracting or enticing a black bear," and its current text exempts "unintentional feeding," defined as placing material for a purpose other than attracting bears that ends up attracting one anyway. A feeder put out for birds fits that definition on its face. Colorado and Connecticut describe their laws the same way, as bans on intentional feeding.
On this wording, the first bear visit is not the offense. The refill after you know a bear is coming is where the ground shifts, because seed put out then is harder to describe as being for the birds.
Negligent attraction needs no intent at all. Washington's RCW 77.15.790 says a person "may not negligently feed or attempt to feed large wild carnivores or negligently attract large wild carnivores to land or a building." An officer who believes food on your property "is attracting or could attract" a bear, and poses a risk to people, livestock or pets, can write an infraction. The words "could attract" mean no bear has to have visited yet. Alaska's 5 AAC 92.230 prohibits negligently leaving "human food, animal food, mineral supplements, or garbage in a manner that attracts" bears, moose, wolves and several other species, and bird seed is food put out for animals.
In a negligence state, "I was only feeding the birds" answers the wrong question. The question is whether you should have known the feeder would draw bears, and when Colorado Parks and Wildlife calls bird feeders "a major source of bear/human conflicts," that is a hard point to argue.
Washington has a second, stiffer tier
Under RCW 77.15.792, intentional feeding is a misdemeanor, and so is the negligent case if the food is not contained, moved or removed within 24 hours of the infraction. The ticket starts a one-day clock.
How a feeder turns into a citation#
Three of the six spell out what comes before, or right after, the first penalty.
- New Jersey: no civil penalty can be assessed "unless the person has first been issued a prior written warning." After the warning, a continuing violation counts as a new offense every day, each worth up to $1,000.
- Vermont: the Commissioner or a designee "may issue an order requiring a person to remove or contain the bait, food, or edible material if the placing of bait or food results in the feeding of a bear." After that order, you cannot say you did not know.
- Washington: the infraction can come first. The statute's written warning with two days to remove the food applies only to the parties it exempts from the infraction, such as farms, forestry operations and lawful hunters or trappers. It is not a homeowner's grace period.
Each route starts with a bear at your property and someone noticing, often a neighbor. Talking to them first is covered in neighbors and ordinances.
The dates online are mostly advice#
Search this question and you get a removal window and a fine for every state, most of which we could not trace to any statute. Two things produce them.
Agency advice restated as law. Colorado Parks and Wildlife's 2025 spring release says "Do not hang bird feeders from April 15 to Nov. 15." Vermont Fish and Wildlife suggests feeders only "from December 1 through March 31." Connecticut's DEEP asks residents to put feeders away "by mid-March, or even earlier during mild weather," until late fall. All three are advice. The law in those states is about intentional feeding; the calendar is how the agency suggests you avoid it.
A New Jersey bill reported as a rule. Assembly Bill A360, introduced for the 2024 session, would have deleted New Jersey's "unintentional feeding" exemption and allowed bird feeders from April 1 to November 30 only if suspended at least 10 feet above the ground, with the ground beneath kept clear, the feeder emptied or brought indoors every night, and any bear access fixed within 48 hours. That is well above normal feeder height, and it is a proposal: the statute in the table is what it would have amended, and it belonged to a session that has since closed.
Alaska is the reverse case: the current 5 AAC 92.230 has no seasonal window, so negligent attraction is prohibited in January as much as in July. The same rule covers moose, deer, wolves, coyotes and foxes.
Where this page stops applying#
- Other states. If yours is not in the table, find the feeding statute on the legislature's site and read the verb: "intentionally," "knowingly" or "negligently."
- Towns and counties. Local ordinances can be stricter than state law; Connecticut's DEEP notes that several towns have their own feeding bans.
- HOAs, leases and Canadian provinces are outside this page.
- Deer. Several states regulate deer feeding separately: see deer eating bird seed.
This is a reading of statutes, not legal advice. If you have a warning letter, call the agency that sent it.
What to do this week#
At the end of September, every agency date in the table still has feeders down, for weeks yet in Colorado and until December in Vermont. If you are in bear range, the legal and practical answers agree, and the fall-specific bear advice is in fall bird feeding.
- Read your state's verb. "Negligently" means your feeder can be the offense today.
- If a bear has visited, take the feeder down now. In a knowing-feeding state, refilling after a visit is the step that changes your position.
- Rake up the spill. Spilled seed attracts bears whether or not the feeder is up. The cleanup is in seed mess, hulls and dead grass, and the seed bag belongs indoors, as covered in storing bird seed.
- Plan a winter-only schedule. Once bears den, the agencies above all accept feeders; the case for concentrating on the cold months is in winter bird feeding. The regional calendar for the Northeast is in feeding birds in the Northeast.
- Keep birds in the yard without seed in the meantime, with native plants and a bird bath.
Frequently asked questions#
Is it illegal to have a bird feeder in bear season?
Not by itself in any of the six states we checked: Washington, Alaska, New Jersey, Vermont, Colorado and Connecticut. It becomes illegal when it counts as feeding or attracting a bear. In Washington and Alaska negligent attraction is enough, so a feeder can be an offense without intent. In the other four the law targets intentional or knowing feeding.
What is the fine for feeding bears with a bird feeder?
Colorado Parks and Wildlife gives a $100 fine for illegal wildlife feeding. New Jersey allows a civil penalty of up to $1,000 per offense after a written warning, with each day of a continuing violation counted separately. Washington treats negligent attraction as an infraction and intentional feeding as a misdemeanor.
Does New Jersey require bird feeders to be 10 feet high?
Not in the statute. The 10 foot height, nightly removal and April 1 to November 30 dates come from Assembly Bill A360, introduced for the 2024 session. The current law prohibits intentional feeding and exempts unintentional feeding.
Can I get a warning before a fine?
In New Jersey the statute requires a written warning before any civil penalty. In Vermont the Commissioner can order food removed once it results in a bear being fed. In Washington a homeowner can receive an infraction directly; the two-day written warning in the statute applies only to exempt parties such as farms.