Orange County, NY Animal Ordinances: Wildlife Feeding (2026)

The rule sits inside the Housing Hygiene and Property Maintenance article's rodent-control section, not a standalone wildlife law. " That container requirement applies countywide, all the time, to anyone feeding birds, deer, geese or other wildlife outdoors. The stronger measure only switches on once the Commissioner of Health makes a specific finding: if an area is "deemed infested with rodents, insects, vermin or other pests," the Sanitary Code requires all bird feeding in that area to stop entirely until the Commissioner determines the infestation has cleared.

The same infestation finding also triggers the county's companion weed-height rule in Section 2(8)(e), since uncut vegetation and scattered feed both create rodent harborage. Enforcement runs through the same inspection and complaint process as the rest of Article III: the Commissioner's staff can inspect the property, and a written notice with a reasonable correction deadline precedes any formal violation.