Parsippany-Troy Hills, NJ Animal Ordinances: Coyote Management (2026)

Article III of Chapter 91 was adopted by the Township Council on 12-20-2005 as Ord. No. 2005:32. Section 91-17 gives the reason: large numbers of wild waterfowl and deer, plus the occasional presence of bears, coyotes and other wild animals, cause a public health nuisance. Coyotes are named in that finding and again in the prohibition itself.

Section 91-19 is the operative rule. No person shall feed, cause to be fed or provide food for wild waterfowl, deer, bears, coyotes and other wildlife anywhere in the Township, on public or private property. That covers a backyard in Parsippany-Troy Hills exactly as it covers a park or a lakefront.

The definitions in § 91-18 make the ban wide. To feed means to give, place, expose, deposit, distribute or scatter any edible material with the intention of feeding, attracting or enticing wildlife. Wildlife means all animals that are neither human nor domesticated. The test is intent to attract, so scattering food to draw deer counts even if no animal ever eats it. The one carve-out inside the definition is baiting in the legal taking of fish and game.

Section 91-20 adds a single exception: traditional bird feeders, provided the feeders are at least five feet above the ground. A feeder mounted lower falls outside the exception and under the feeding ban.

Enforcement under § 91-20.1 belongs to the Animal Control Officer, the Health Officer or the Police Department. Separately, § 91-11 states that the Township offers trapping as a service to residents, with a refundable $75 deposit required for any trap placed on residential property. The deposit is forfeited for a lost, stolen or damaged trap that did not fail from excessive wear, and it is kept by the Township for repair or replacement of the trap.