Carroll County, MD Animal Ordinances: Bird Protection (2026)

017 of the Carroll County Code of Ordinances, part of Chapter 94 (Parks and Recreation), makes it unlawful for anyone in a county park to hunt, molest, harm, frighten, kill, trap, chase, tease, shoot, or throw objects at any wild animal, reptile, or bird. The section goes further than a hunting ban: it also forbids removing a wild creature from the park or simply having one in your possession while there, so picking up an injured bird or a snapping turtle to take home is itself a violation unless the county's Manager of Recreation and Parks has designated otherwise.

A separate feeding clause, subsection (B), makes it illegal to give, offer, or attempt to give any wild animal, reptile, or bird any substance, organic or otherwise, again unless the Manager designates an area or program where feeding is allowed. The only carve-out written into the section is for the cooperative hunting program the State of Maryland runs in specific county parks, which operates under separate state wildlife rules rather than this ordinance. The provision traces to the original 1988 Parks Ordinance (2004 Code § 155-6, Ord.

71, passed 11-10-1988) and was last amended by Ord. 02-08 on 4-25-2002. Because it sits inside Chapter 94, park rangers and the Department of Recreation and Parks enforce it directly against anyone on county park property, including the unincorporated areas the county code covers; incorporated towns inside Carroll County that run their own parks are separate jurisdictions not reached by this section.