Kyle, TX Animal Ordinances: Bird Protection (2026)

Kyle's trapping and shooting rules sit in article II of chapter 5. Under § 5-53(d), 'Hunting prohibited,' it is unlawful for any person, other than an authorized animal control officer or city-tasked trapper, to hunt, shoot, intentionally injure, or kill any wild bird, animal, mammal, or reptile anywhere within the city limits. The same subsection separately bars hunting, shooting, or killing any domestic bird, animal, mammal, reptile, or pet that belongs to someone else, closing off any argument that a shooter believed an animal was a wild nuisance.

Two narrow carve-outs apply: the subsection does not stop a person from destroying a poisonous snake, and it does not stop the animal control division from using certain firearms in emergency field conditions where city policy or law authorizes it. The surrounding sections of § 5-53 regulate related conduct: subsection (a) bans steel-jawed leg-hold traps citywide (while still allowing rodent traps on one's own property), subsections (b) and (c) govern the animal control division's use and 14-day loan of humane live traps, and subsection (e) separately makes it unlawful to shoot a domestic animal within the city limits unless it was a vicious animal presenting an immediate threat.

Because § 5-53(d) covers wild birds specifically alongside wild mammals and reptiles, it functions as Kyle's local bird-protection measure, layered on top of the federal and state hunting restrictions that already apply inside city limits. Kyle Police Department animal control officers investigate reported violations.