Lincoln County, NC Animal Ordinances: Coyote Management (2026)

03(K) of the Lincoln County park preservation ordinance makes it unlawful, in a park, to harass, provoke, or feed any wild animal, fowl, or bird anywhere in the park, unless expressly posted otherwise. The section defines WILD ANIMAL broadly for this purpose as any animal not normally domesticated in the state, and it specifically lists bears, coyotes, deer, feral dogs and cats, foxes, groundhogs, opossums, raccoons, skunks, turkeys, and waterfowl. The prohibition does not reach a Lincoln County employee or anyone acting at the county's direction, which preserves room for the Parks and Recreation Department to manage wildlife conflicts itself.

03(J), bars damaging or altering wildlife habitat within a park unless it is done by authorized park personnel or their agents as a bona fide wildlife management practice, which is the closest the county code comes to addressing an organized cull or habitat intervention. 15: Board-authorized park staff and local law enforcement can issue citations, and the county can layer on any state fine or penalty available under the North Carolina General Statutes for the same conduct. This is a parks-only rule; it governs behavior on county park property in unincorporated Lincoln County and does not reach coyote encounters on private land elsewhere in the county.