Wildlife in your house and yard: the landowner's rules

The 13-species rule dates to a May 2023 amendment — most older web advice predates it. Local ordinances still apply; check yours.

You can protect your property — more than you think

Michigan quietly tripled the do-it-yourself list in 2023. On your own property, you (or someone you designate) may remove these 13 species year-round, without any permit, when they’re doing damage — or physically present where damage is imminent:

beaver • cottontail rabbit • coyote • fox squirrel • gray squirrel • red squirrel • ground squirrel (chipmunk) • muskrat • opossum • raccoon • skunk • weasel • woodchuck

The fine print that keeps you legal

• “Damage” means damage — harm to buildings, crops, orchards, livestock, apiaries, roads, dams, forest products. The squirrel emptying the bird feeder doesn’t qualify. The squirrel chewing into your soffit does.
• Local ordinances still apply. The species list doesn’t override your city’s firearm-discharge ordinance. In town, that usually means live-trapping or a professional, not a .22.
• Relocation is mostly a myth. Dumping “problem” animals across town spreads disease, and it usually kills the animal slowly. Raccoons may legally be released only in the county of capture; other releases need that landowner’s permission. The honest options: fix the entry point, deter, or dispatch.
• Exclusion beats removal, always. Cap the chimney, screen the vents, cut the branch touching the roof. Every removal without exclusion is a vacancy listing for the next tenant.
• For everything not on the list — deer in the garden, geese on the lawn, a bat colony — there’s a permit path through your local DNR office. There’s also a licensed industry of nuisance-control professionals who work attics and crawl spaces under DNR permits.

The classics, played correctly

• Raccoon in the attic / squirrels in the soffit: on the list — but spring removals orphan babies in the walls, so pros check first. Then seal everything.
• Skunk under the deck: on the list. An open escape route plus light and noise usually evicts without the memorable outcome.
• Bats in the attic: not a DIY shoot-or-trap case. Two Michigan bat species are now state-listed after white-nose syndrome. The legal, humane play is exclusion (one-way doors), never during June–July when flightless pups would be sealed inside. A bat found in a bedroom where someone was sleeping is a potential rabies exposure — don’t release it; call your local health department about testing.
• Deer eating the garden: not on the list. Fencing (eight feet), plant choice, repellents. Persistent agricultural damage can qualify for DNR damage permits.
• Canada geese: federally protected. Hazing is fine; touching nests or eggs requires registration through the federal-state program. Stop feeding them and half the problem leaves with the bread.
• Mute swans (the aggressive orange-billed invasives): removable only with a DNR permit — there’s a standard form. Black-billed trumpeter swans are protected natives.
• Beaver flooding your land: now on the DIY list on private land. And if a county drain is involved, the county drain commissioner has a stake in that water too.

The signpost

The official nuisance-wildlife pages and permit paths live at the DNR; coyote specifics are on our furbearer page. Start with the wildlife rules pillar.