Baltimore County, MD Animal Ordinances: Coyote Management (2026)

Baltimore County Code § 30-1-201(a) bars hunting or trapping wildlife on any land under the Department of Recreation and Parks' control, and bars injuring, destroying or interfering with wildlife or wildlife habitat, except when the Director authorizes an activity for scientific study, environmental education, or wildlife management. S. Department of Agriculture or a licensed wildlife management company under Department of Natural Resources supervision, conducted in cooperation with the county, to reduce the population of protected wildlife determined to be overpopulated. A Deer Cooperator Program cull may run only during nighttime hours; all venison must be donated to a food bank or other charitable organization, with processing and butchering performed by Baltimore County contractors where feasible; the dates and times must be published in a newspaper of general circulation and posted at multiple locations at least two weeks beforehand; and the land must be closed to the general public while the program operates.

Separate from deer, § 30-1-201(h) bars anyone from catching, harassing, or killing wildlife in a park, or disturbing a nest, burrow or den, unless authorized by the Director in consultation with the Director of Environmental Protection and Sustainability. The code does not name coyotes specifically or set a hazing policy; the Deer Cooperator Program framework is the county's only codified wildlife-culling mechanism for parkland, and it applies to whatever protected species DNR and the county jointly determine to be overpopulated.