Owning a Coyote in Massachusetts: What State Wildlife Law Permits

Can you own a coyote in Massachusetts? If you’ve found an orphaned pup in your backyard or you’re simply curious about the rules, the short answer is no — and the reasoning goes well beyond a general dislike of wild pets. In Massachusetts, the private possession of certain wild and exotic animals is prohibited unless a person obtains a license from the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife (MassWildlife), which is only granted for certain scientific, educational, commercial, or other specific reasons, and is not issued for keeping a wild animal as a pet. Coyotes fall squarely into that prohibited category, regardless of how the animal was acquired or how tame it seems.

This guide walks through exactly how state law classifies coyotes, what permit categories exist (and why none of them cover pet ownership), the enclosure standards licensed facilities must meet, how local ordinances add another layer of restriction, and what penalties apply if someone keeps one anyway.

Important Note: This article explains general Massachusetts wildlife law for informational purposes and is not legal advice. If you’re dealing with a specific coyote situation, contact MassWildlife or a licensed attorney for guidance tailored to your circumstances.

Is It Legal to Own a Coyote in Massachusetts

No, pet coyotes are not legal in Massachusetts. You cannot keep a coyote as a pet in Massachusetts. This isn’t a gray area or a matter of local interpretation — it’s built into the state’s core wildlife statute. MGL c. 131, § 23 requires a license to propagate or deal in wild birds, mammals, reptiles and amphibians, and coyotes are treated as wild mammals under that law regardless of how domesticated an individual animal appears.

You can learn more about the species itself, including its behavior and range across the state, on our coyote species page. The wild designation matters because it triggers a licensing requirement that simply has no pathway for private pet ownership, a point that applies whether the animal was purchased, bred in captivity, or picked up as an “orphaned” pup found in the woods.

The rule also extends to close relatives and hybrids. No, pet coydogs are not legal in Massachusetts. Anyone hoping a coyote-dog cross might slip through a loophole because it’s “part domestic” will find state regulators closed that door specifically, which we cover in more detail in the next section.

How Massachusetts Classifies Coyotes Under Wildlife Law

The eastern coyote (Canis latrans) is native to Massachusetts and classified as a wild furbearer under state wildlife regulations, not a domestic or exempt species. For the purpose of this section, birds, mammals, reptiles and amphibians shall refer to undomesticated birds, mammals, reptiles and amphibians that are wild by nature, and nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit the propagation, disposition, sale, possession or maintenance of domesticated species. Coyotes clearly fall on the wild side of that line.

Massachusetts does maintain a narrow list of species exempt from the licensing requirement, but coyotes aren’t on it. The animals that have been added to this license-exemption list include boas and pythons, skinks, parrots, hedgehogs, chinchillas, and flying squirrels, among others. If you’re curious how that exemption list treats other wildlife, our guide to snakes found in Massachusetts covers several species that do appear on it.

State regulators went further by closing the hybrid loophole entirely. No person shall possess, sell, trade, breed, import, export or release a wild canid hybrid or wild felid hybrid, except as otherwise provided by rules and regulations of the division, and any mammal which is the offspring of the reproduction between any species of wild canid or hybrid wild canid and a domestic dog or hybrid wild canid, or is represented by its owner to be a wolf hybrid, coyote hybrid, coy dog or any other kind of wild canid hybrid, is covered under this statute. That last clause is deliberately broad — even claiming an animal is “part coyote” pulls it under the same restrictions as a full-blooded one.

Separately from pet ownership, coyotes are also managed as a regulated game species with a defined hunting season. As of October 2022, in Massachusetts, the coyote hunting season runs from Oct. 15 – Mar. 8. To hunt coyote in Massachusetts you must have the appropriate license and permit, which you can buy through MassFishHunt. That’s an entirely different legal framework from possession — a hunting license lets you take a coyote in the field under specific rules, not keep one alive as a pet. If you want to understand coyotes’ place in the broader food web, our breakdown of what animals eat coyotes covers their natural predators and competitors.

Permits and Licensing Requirements for Coyote Ownership in Massachusetts

Because coyotes are wild by default under state law, the only legal route to possessing one runs through a formal license — and even then, the purposes are tightly restricted. A person shall not engage in the propagation, cultivation, or maintenance of, or the dealing in, fish, birds, mammals, reptiles, or amphibians, without first having obtained a propagator’s license or dealer’s license, as the case may be, authorizing him so to do. Those licenses are administered by MassWildlife’s Division of Fisheries and Wildlife, and approval isn’t automatic.

Pro Tip: If you found an injured or orphaned coyote, don’t attempt to raise it yourself. Contact MassWildlife or a state-licensed wildlife rehabilitator, who can legally provide temporary care under their own permit before the animal is released or transferred to an appropriate facility.

The table below summarizes the main permit categories that touch coyotes and similar wild mammals in Massachusetts, and why none of them function as a pet-ownership license.

Permit Type	Who Qualifies	Covers Pet Ownership?
Propagator’s License	Breeders of wild species for approved commercial or conservation purposes	No
Dealer’s License	Businesses selling or trading wild species under state oversight	No
Exhibitor/Educational Permit	Zoos, nature centers, and accredited educational programs	No
Temporary Possession Permit	Short-term holders such as researchers or traveling exhibits	No
Wildlife Rehabilitation License	State-approved rehabbers caring for injured or orphaned native wildlife	No — temporary care only

Even people with a genuine interest in exotic species run into this wall. Prohibited species include, but are not limited to, large cats, bears, primates, and venomous reptiles, and permits may be granted for exhibition, educational, or scientific purposes, with applicants required to meet specific criteria to qualify. Coyotes are governed by the same logic even though they’re a native species rather than an imported exotic. For comparison, our overview of venomous animals in Massachusetts shows how the state applies similarly strict permitting to other species considered dangerous if released or mishandled.

Enclosure and Care Requirements in Massachusetts

Enclosure standards only come into play for the licensed institutions that legally hold coyotes — zoos, accredited rehabbers, and research facilities — since private individuals aren’t permitted to keep one at all. Those facilities answer to more than just state rules. State regulation 321 CMR 2.12 is promulgated and effective in addition to and in conjunction with 7 U.S.C. § 2132 et seq., commonly known as the federal Animal Welfare Act and the licensing program of the United States Department of Agriculture. That layered oversight means a coyote in a licensed Massachusetts facility is subject to both state inspection and federal USDA care standards.

Short-term possession, such as a traveling educational exhibit or a research study, requires its own separate authorization. Persons may temporarily possess animals in Massachusetts provided a temporary possession permit is obtained from the Division, and the applicant must supply the dates, times and locations where the animals will be possessed, the purposes of the temporary possession, a list of the animals being temporarily possessed, and the dates of their removal. That level of documentation underscores how far removed this process is from casual pet ownership.

It’s also worth understanding why coyotes never made it onto the exemption list in the first place. To qualify for permit-free status, an animal cannot pose any significant ecological risk if accidentally released, cannot present substantial danger to humans through injury or disease transmission if it escapes captivity, its proper care cannot be more demanding than that of common domesticated pets, and trade in the animal cannot have major adverse impacts on wild populations. Coyotes fail at least two of those tests outright — they can carry rabies and other zoonotic diseases, and captive-raised individuals still retain predatory instincts that make them unpredictable around people and pets.

Local Laws and HOA Restrictions That May Apply in Massachusetts

Even though the state ban already makes coyote ownership illegal everywhere in Massachusetts, local governments and private communities can layer on additional rules that affect how you interact with wildlife more broadly. Local ordinances in various counties and cities may impose further restrictions on the possession of wild animals. A homeowners association bylaw restricting outdoor enclosures or non-domestic animals wouldn’t change the underlying legality question, but it could create separate civil consequences for anyone attempting to build a large containment structure without approval.

Municipal rules also shape how residents are expected to manage everyday encounters with wild canids. Leash laws vary from town to town, so if you share a property with dogs in coyote territory, it’s worth checking your town’s specific requirements — our guide to dog leash laws in Massachusetts breaks down how these ordinances typically work. Some towns also maintain breed-specific restrictions for domestic dogs, which shows how granular local animal control rules can get even before wild species enter the picture.

Hunting-related bylaws add another layer for anyone considering legal coyote management on their property. Each town may have additional by-laws that restrict hunting and the discharge of firearms, so a state-issued hunting license doesn’t guarantee you can legally discharge a firearm within town limits. There are also firm limits on self-help wildlife removal. It is against state law to capture and move coyotes simply because of their presence, and it is also illegal to live-trap a problem animal and move it for release on other public or private property.

Massachusetts does give property owners narrow self-defense rights when wildlife is actively causing harm. Massachusetts General Law, Chapter 131, Section 37, gives property owners the right to use lawful means to destroy wildlife in the act of causing damage or threatening personal safety. That right is limited, though — landowners may only destroy wildlife actually causing damage or posing immediate threats, and no one may randomly destroy wildlife simply because it is on their property. For a closer look at municipal guidance on coexisting with coyotes, the Hingham Police Department’s coyote resource page outlines how local public safety officials typically respond to problem animals.

Penalties for Illegally Owning a Coyote in Massachusetts

Massachusetts backs its wildlife possession rules with real financial and criminal consequences, not just warning letters. Under the current penalty structure, whoever violates certain wildlife possession provisions is punished by a fine of not less than $200 but not more than $500, by imprisonment for not more than 90 days, or by both such fine and imprisonment, and for each bird or mammal — other than a deer, bear, or wild turkey — unlawfully killed, taken, held, or possessed, a person is punished by a fine of not less than $100 but not more than $500. Since illegal possession of a coyote can involve more than one violation at once (possession plus lack of licensing, for example), fines can stack quickly.

Massachusetts law also builds in a restitution schedule tied to the value of specific illegally possessed animals. Fox, coyote and beaver violations carry a restitution value of fifty dollars per animal illegally taken or illegally possessed. That amount is paid to the commonwealth in addition to any court-ordered fine, not instead of it.

Violation	Potential Consequence
Illegal possession of a wild mammal without a license	Fine of $200–$500, up to 90 days imprisonment, or both
Each bird or mammal unlawfully held or possessed	Additional fine of $100–$500 per animal
Restitution for illegally possessed coyote	$50 per animal, paid to the commonwealth
Third or subsequent violation within 10 years	Fine of $1,000–$15,000, up to 5 years in state prison, or both

Beyond fines, the animal itself has no protected status once possession is confirmed illegal. Any fish, bird, mammal, reptile, or amphibian possessed, propagated, cultivated, maintained, sold, or offered for sale in violation of this section may be seized and shall be disposed of by the director of law enforcement for the best interests of the commonwealth. Repeat offenders face dramatically steeper consequences. Whoever is convicted of a third or subsequent violation within a 10-year period is punished by a fine of not less than $1,000 but not more than $15,000, by imprisonment for not more than 5 years in a state prison, or both, and these enhanced penalties apply to anyone whose total violations within that period involve three or more animals.

Common Mistake: Assuming a rescued or “tamed” coyote pup is treated differently under the law. Massachusetts statutes make no distinction based on how an animal was acquired — possession without the appropriate license is the trigger, not intent or the animal’s temperament.

For the full text of these provisions, MassWildlife maintains an official summary of Massachusetts law about animals, and the penalty statute itself is published as Mass. General Laws c.131 § 90. Anyone weighing whether to pursue a legal hunting license instead of possession should review the state’s official coyote hunting regulations before taking any action.

If you came across this article because you’re dealing with a coyote near your home rather than considering ownership, resources like the MSPCA-Angell’s guide to wild and exotic animals and MassWildlife’s own species pages are far better starting points than attempting to keep the animal yourself. You might also find it useful to browse our guides on hawks and owls found across the state — both are examples of native wildlife that carry their own set of state and federal protections worth understanding before any encounter with local wildlife turns into a legal question.