Polk County, FL Animal Ordinances: Wildlife Feeding (2026)

The ban sits inside Article II, County Parks, Sec. 6-16(9), 'Protection and preservation of wildlife,' adopted by Ordinance No. 14-065, Sec. 2, on November 4, 2014. reaches feeding, molesting, harming, frightening, killing, netting, trapping, snaring, hunting, chasing, shooting, or throwing missiles at wildlife roaming free or held in a cage inside a park, and it separately bars removing the young of a wild animal or the nest or eggs of a reptile or bird, or collecting, giving away, selling, buying, or accepting as a gift any dead or live animal specimen found in a park.

adds a companion ban on dumping, abandoning, or feeding stray or feral animals, reptiles, or birds, including cats, dogs, swine, snakes, rabbits, lizards, ducks, chickens, and roosters, inside a county park. lets the Parks and Natural Resources Division, working with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, formally declare a species a nuisance in a specific park when its number, location, or behavior threatens public health, safety, or park resources, which opens the door to a lawful control or relocation program that would otherwise violate the feeding/molesting ban.

Because the rule is written into the county parks chapter, it reaches only property the Division owns, leases, or maintains: park grounds, boat ramps, and recreation areas in unincorporated Polk County. It does not regulate feeding wildlife on private property. Enforcement runs through Sec. 6-17: code enforcement officers, sworn law enforcement officers, and Division employees can all write a citation, and the county can pursue either a criminal misdemeanor charge or a civil fine track.