Joliet, IL Animal Ordinances: Wildlife Feeding (2026)

City Code Chapter 20, Division 3 (Sec. 20-34 through 20-36) targets feeding that causes waterfowl to congregate unnaturally, foul lawns and walkways with droppings, or destroy vegetation, rather than banning all interaction with wildlife outright. Sec. 20-34 explains the city's purpose: protecting public health, safety, and welfare, and the wildlife itself, since feeding can interrupt migration, cause nutritional harm, strip animals of their natural fear of predators, and spread disease-carrying parasites like fleas and ticks. Sec. 20-35 then declares it unlawful and a nuisance to feed any wild animal or waterfowl on private or public property in a manner producing an unclean, unsafe, or unsanitary condition, whether on the feeder's own property, a neighbor's, or city land.

The ordinance draws a clear line: incidental or infrequent feeding, such as tossing ducks a single piece of bread that dissolves or gets eaten by fish, or hanging an ear of corn on a squirrel feeder, is not covered. Backyard bird feeders are also expressly protected: Sec. 20-35(b) states the section does not prohibit feeding songbirds from a well-maintained feeder, defined as one that generally protects the seed from weather. What crosses the line is repeated or heavy feeding that produces an unnatural accumulation of waterfowl feces, damages grass and landscaping from large concentrations of birds, or lures ducks and geese away from natural habitat such as lakes and ponds into private yards or public spaces.

The division was enacted by Ordinance No. 17806 on July 17, 2018, and is enforced through the city's code enforcement process alongside the rest of Chapter 20's nuisance provisions.