Horry County, SC Animal Ordinances: Bird Protection (2026)

The Vereen Memorial Historical Gardens is defined in Sec. 14-31 as roughly 114 acres of land in Little River donated by Jackson Vereen to the Horry County Historic Preservation Commission and transferred to county ownership under Ordinance No. 9-87. The article establishing the Gardens' rules, adopted by Ord. No. 29-87 in December 1987, dedicates Sec. 14-36 specifically to wildlife: it is unlawful for any person to trap, hunt, molest, or attempt to molest in any manner any bird, wild fowl, or game within the Gardens. The prohibition covers birds and wild fowl alongside game generally, and it carries no exception for licensed hunters, trappers, or wildlife nuisance permits, unlike the state's general game laws that apply outside the park.

This bird protection sits inside a broader set of Gardens-only rules: Sec. 14-32 bans sleeping in the Gardens between 9:00 p.m. and sunrise, Sec. 14-38 bars removing or destroying plant material without authorization from the Vereen Memorial Historical Gardens Committee, and Sec. 14-39 bans setting fires except in designated areas or with the Committee's permission. Outside the Vereen Gardens boundary, Horry County's code does not carry a general county-wide ordinance protecting wild birds; the closest parallel is Chapter 4's migratory-waterfowl feeding ban, a separate provision aimed at nuisance waterfowl rather than at protecting birds from harm. So a hunter or collector who would face no county-level bird restriction anywhere else in unincorporated Horry becomes subject to this ban the moment they cross into the 114-acre park.