Problem Solving

Is It Illegal to Feed Coyotes?

In many places, yes. Seven states and one province have a rule that reaches coyotes, Colorado tightened its rule in 2026, and towns from Los Angeles to Cape Cod ban it outright. Whether your bird feeder counts comes down to one sentence in each rule.

Often, yes. Outside national parks no federal law bans it, but Colorado, Florida, Nevada, Oregon, Rhode Island, Arizona and Illinois each have a rule that reaches coyotes, and so does British Columbia. Los Angeles County and many towns ban it outright. Washington, California and Massachusetts have no statewide ban.

We compared twenty rules, seventeen in their own text, and gave the bird feeder its own column. For raccoons, see is it illegal to feed raccoons.

The rules we read#

For a yard, read "Intent needed?" and "Your bird feeder" first.

Seventeen of the twenty reach coyote feeding somewhere. Washington, California and Massachusetts leave it to towns.

Why the answers online disagree#

"It's illegal in California." Not by state law. The rule usually cited, 14 CCR 251.1, bans harassment, defined as "an intentional act which disrupts an animal's normal behavior patterns, which includes, but is not limited to, breeding, feeding or sheltering." Feeding there is a behavior you must not disrupt, not an act you must not do. Even Laguna Woods' staff report cites 251.1 and 251.3 as feeding rules; 251.3 covers big game, and coyotes are not big game. California's bans are the county and city codes below.

"It's only illegal in parks." True in Washington, whose law covers bears, cougars and wolves, and in Massachusetts, where MassWildlife says "feeding wildlife is not illegal." Wrong in the seven states above and British Columbia.

Colorado: what changed in 2026#

The Parks and Wildlife Commission approved a new regulation #021, "Feeding or Attracting Wildlife," on January 14, 2026, effective March 2.

Part C now bans leaving "any food or other substance the person knows or reasonably should know constitute a lure, attraction, or enticement for coyotes or fox in an area where the discharge of firearms is precluded by law." The words struck out were "so as to intentionally." The commission's reason: prosecutors had to prove "a person intended to attract wildlife, which is difficult to show." Where shooting is allowed, Part C does not reach you. Part A, for big game, got the same change, so the Colorado row on bear feeder laws has been corrected.

Part D was not changed, but it names your feeder. You must take remedial action, "which may include the securing or removal of outdoor trash, cooking grills, pet food, bird feeders," once the Division has notified you that "black bears, coyotes or fox are in the area." And "after an initial contact or conflict" with a coyote, no one may "continue to provide, or otherwise fail to secure or remove" food sources, "bird feeders" included. Part D has no area limit. So a feeder is legal until the state warns you or a coyote has a run-in at your place; after that, leaving it up can be the violation. The rule sets no fine, and we did not read the penalty schedule.

Other states and British Columbia#

Florida. Rule 68A-4.001(3) bans placing food, "allowing the placement" of it, or offering it so that "it attracts coyotes, foxes or raccoons" and creates or is likely to create "a public nuisance." "Allowing" reaches spill. A first violation is $100 under section 379.412; a second is a misdemeanor. The raccoon page reads it in full.

Nevada. NRS 501.382 bars anyone to "intentionally feed any wildlife classified as a wild mammal," and state regulations list the coyote as an unprotected mammal. The definition excludes "any incidental or unintentional feeding." A first offender is not cited but "must be informed, in writing"; then fines of up to $250 and $500.

Arizona. ARS 13-2927 bans feeding or attracting wildlife "intentionally, knowingly or recklessly" in counties over 280,000 people, except "tree squirrels or birds." Coyotes are covered. The pigeon page reads it for birds.

Oregon. ORS 496.731 names "bear, cougar, coyote and wolf." Leave food "so as to knowingly constitute a lure" and an officer can order it removed "within two days of notification."

Rhode Island. The state leaflet says feeding "black bear, or coyote is not permitted any time in the state," citing Title 20, with up to $500 or 90 days. See the duck page.

Illinois. Rule 635.40 bans making food available to "wild deer or other wildlife in areas where wild deer are present," but exempts "elevated bird/squirrel feeders" within 100 feet of a home. More in does a deer feeding ban apply to my bird feeder.

British Columbia. The Wildlife Act's "dangerous wildlife" is "bear, cougar, coyote or wolf." Section 33.1(2) bans leaving food where people are likely to be if it could attract one "and be accessible" to it, with no intent needed. BC tickets and towns are on are bird feeders illegal in Canada.

Washington bans negligently feeding "large wild carnivores," defined as "wild bear, cougar, and wolf." No coyote. Its negligence test is explained on bear feeder laws.

Los Angeles and Orange County#

Los Angeles County section 10.84.010 (1981): "no person shall feed or in any manner provide food to a nondomesticated rodent or a nondomesticated mammalian predator," which "includes coyote, raccoon, fox & opossum." The county says a violation "is a misdemeanor." Its May 2025 presentation, "Living with Urban Coyotes," has a slide headed "Illegal to Feed Coyotes!" and, under sanitation, tells residents to "Maintain bird feeders," not to take them down.

City of Los Angeles code 53.06.5 bans anyone to "feed or in any manner provide food or cause to be fed" coyotes, foxes, possums, raccoons or skunks, punishable by "a fine of not more than $1,000.00" or up to six months in jail. The county text we read sets no amount. In 2016 the council adopted David Ryu's motion asking Animal Services to report on enforcement and the "successes and limitations of current law." Rancho Palos Verdes has its own version, on the peacock page.

Laguna Woods adopted the strictest text we read, 5-0, on March 18, 2026. Section 5.20.070 bans "any other action which is reasonably likely to provide sustenance for coyotes, rodents, vermin, or other wildlife," meaning anything edible left outside "whether intentional or not." One listed example is letting seed "within a bird feeder to fall and remain or accumulate outdoors." The exemption covers "small, incidental amounts" spilled by birds, squirrels or wind, if the owner "has made a reasonable attempt to clean," and ends where an officer has evidence of "the attraction of rats." Fines are $100, $200, then $500 within a year.

Seal Beach section 7.05.100: "It is unlawful for any person to feed or provide food to any nondomesticated animal," except "wild birds that are confined in an enclosure on private property." But the code defines a wild bird as "a bird of the columbine family": pigeons and doves. On the text, a chickadee at an open feeder is a nondomesticated animal being fed. A violation is an infraction; in an August 2026 Sun column, the police captain noted officers generally cannot cite one they did not witness.

Cape Cod and the Chicago suburbs#

Wellfleet (2022) bans feeding "any wild animal" on "lands either publicly or privately owned," and in section 111-16(B) uses nearly the same words as Colorado's Part D: remedial action once the town advises you, and no more food after a first conflict. Section 111-15 allows backyard birds on private property, "subject to the condition that birds shall only be fed from bird feeders." Penalties: a written warning, then $25, $100 and $300, each day a separate offense.

It is the only Cape town where we found a town-wide ban. Provincetown and Truro have none, nor did the chapters we checked in eight other towns; Barnstable bans feeding only on Sandy Neck. In Cape Cod National Seashore, 36 CFR 2.2(a)(2) bans "the feeding, touching, teasing, frightening or intentional disturbing of wildlife." In May 2020 rangers shot a coyote that had killed an off-leash puppy at Herring Cove, where people had left out "dog food and fish heads," and said "Rangers will continue to cite offenders."

Lisle, Illinois makes it "unlawful and a nuisance for any person to intentionally feed, shelter or otherwise harbor any wild animals," coyotes listed. With no feeder exception, intent decides it: seed for chickadees does not feed a coyote on purpose; a dish of meat left out for one does.

Northbrook (2015, per Patch) bans putting "table scraps, seed or other food out-of-doors" in residential areas in a way that attracts wild animals, coyotes listed. The village says "Residents may keep above ground bird feeders."

Does a bird feeder count?#

Usually not by itself. None of the twenty bans bird feeders by name, and Arizona, Illinois, Wellfleet, Northbrook and Toronto protect them in words. Three kinds of rule can still reach one:

• No exception, no intent word. Los Angeles County, the City of Los Angeles, Seal Beach and British Columbia read as covering any food a coyote can reach. A high feeder with a clean ground is hard to call feeding a coyote; seed piled underneath is not.
• A warning first. Colorado Part D, Wellfleet 111-16(B) and Oregon's two-day order turn a legal feeder into a violation once you have been told.
• The spill. Florida's "allowing the placement," Laguna Woods' "small, incidental amounts" and Northbrook's seed "out-of-doors" judge what is on the ground.

So keep the ground clean (seed mess and dead grass), use no-mess blends, and skip ground feeders where coyotes are about. Store seed in a sealed metal can (storing bird seed) and bring pet food in at night. Los Angeles County lists bird feeders beside fallen fruit, trash and pet food, and Laguna Woods ties its exemption to rats: if mice and rats live on the spill, fix that first.

What every rule here catches is feeding the coyote itself: meat, pet food or scraps left out for it. If a neighbor does that, the agency or code office is the route; how to raise it first is on neighbors and ordinances.

Where this page stops applying#

• Other towns. Wildwood, New Jersey police said in September 2026 that feeding wildlife breaks a city ordinance, with fines up to $500; we did not read it. Search your town's code for "coyote" and "feeding of wildlife." How: municipal and county ordinances.
• Three rows are not from rule text: Rhode Island (leaflet), Massachusetts (MassWildlife), Northbrook (Patch and the village). Los Angeles County's penalty is from the county's summary.
• Penalties for Colorado, Oregon, Illinois, Lisle and Northbrook, and Seal Beach's amount, are not in the text we read.
• Older copies. Lisle's code is a 2021 archive, Los Angeles's a 2024 archive.
• Not read: other states and provinces, including New York, Texas, New Jersey and Ontario.

This is a reading of statutes, regulations and local codes, not legal advice. Regional feeder advice is in the California guide and the Mountain West guide.