St. Tammany Parish, LA Animal Ordinances: Wildlife Feeding (2026)

Sec. 10-693, part of the reptiles article of the animal control chapter, makes it unlawful for any person to feed an alligator within 500 feet of a residence anywhere in the parish. 'Residence' is defined broadly in subsection (b) to include not just permanent dwellings but camps that are only inhabited on an occasional basis, so seasonal camps along the parish's bayous and lakefront are covered the same as year-round homes. The exemption in subsection (c) is narrow: only duly authorized personnel of local, state and federal wildlife agencies, licensed alligator farmers, and licensed alligator exhibits can feed alligators near a residence.

The section is silent on feeding other wildlife such as deer, geese or stray animals; those activities are not separately restricted anywhere else in the parish animal control chapter, so the alligator-specific ban is the only local feeding prohibition in this code. S. Fish and Wildlife Service as the agencies authorized to act on a violation, reflecting that alligators are also regulated as state wildlife under separate state statutes. Because each day a violation continues counts as a new offense under subsection (d), a feeding pattern near the same residence can produce cumulative daily fines rather than a single charge.