Wausau, WI Animal Ordinances: Wildlife Feeding (2026)

255 of the Wausau Municipal Code, adopted by Ordinance 61-5086 in 2000 and last amended by Ordinance 61-5371 in 2008, makes it unlawful for any person to feed or bait deer anywhere in the City of Wausau, Marathon County, Wisconsin. The prohibition covers both intentional feeding, such as putting out corn, hay, or salt blocks, and baiting, luring deer with food to a location. The ordinance does not distinguish between residential yards and other private or public property inside city limits; the ban is citywide.

The single carve-out in subsection (b) lets the Mayor authorize feeding, but only as part of a City program to remove deer from Wausau, not for routine backyard wildlife viewing or hobby feeding. Subsection (a) also states that each day a violation continues counts as a separate offense, so a resident who keeps a feeding station running for a week can face a citation for every day it remained in place rather than a single charge. 250. Because the rule targets free-ranging deer rather than owned pets, it applies even to residents who never intended to attract wildlife but who leave feed accessible on their property. Wausau enacted its own citywide ban rather than relying on any county or state feeding restriction, so the rule stops at the city line.