Wyoming, MI Animal Ordinances: Wildlife Feeding (2026)

Wyoming does not have a single comprehensive wildlife-feeding ordinance. Local enforcement runs through Chapter 6 of the Code of Ordinances at https://library.municode.com/mi/wyoming/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=PTIICOOR_CH6AN, which addresses nuisance animals and conditions, read together with property-maintenance rules against accumulations of food that attract vermin. The dominant state-level rule is the Michigan DNR's deer and elk baiting/feeding ban. Under authority of the Wildlife Conservation Order issued under 1994 PA 451 (Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act), the DNR has prohibited the baiting and feeding of free-ranging white-tailed deer and elk in the entire Lower Peninsula since January 31, 2019 due to CWD and bovine tuberculosis detections. The current order, summarized at https://www.michigan.gov/dnr/managing-resources/wildlife/cwd, prohibits any food, hay, grain, fruit, vegetable, salt, mineral, or other material placed in any manner that attracts or could attract deer or elk. Kent County, which includes the City of Wyoming, sits in the Lower Peninsula and is subject to the ban. Feeding bears is also generally prohibited because Michigan bears are concentrated in the Upper Peninsula and northern Lower Peninsula, but baiting for licensed hunting is separately regulated. Bird feeding is not prohibited, but feeders that attract deer (corn or large seed accumulations near ground) violate the DNR ban; songbird feeders should be maintained to prevent spilled seed from attracting rats, which would trigger Chapter 6 vermin-nuisance citations. DNR Wildlife Division enforces the deer/elk ban; tips can be reported to Michigan DNR Report All Poaching (RAP) at 800-292-7800.