Game animals & birds
deer, dove, ducks, turkey, squirrel
Hunted in seasons with a license. See the Hunting hub.
Wildlife / What's legal
The legal map.
Texas sorts animals into groups, and the group decides the rules. You don't need to memorize this, but it explains a lot - like why you can't keep that baby bird, or move that raccoon.
How Texas sorts animals
Furbearers
raccoon, fox, opossum, skunk, beaver, ringtail, badger, mink, muskrat, nutria, otter, spotted skunk
May be hunted or trapped with a license; special rules to sell pelts. (Note: bobcat is NOT a furbearer - it's nongame.)
Nongame
coyote, bobcat, mountain lion, armadillo, prairie dog, ground squirrel, porcupine, rabbits, freshwater turtles, frogs
No closed season, but a hunting license is required to take them - even on your own land. Two exceptions need no license on private property with the owner's OK: feral hogs, and coyotes that are causing damage.
Protected nongame
songbirds, hawks and owls, bats, many reptiles and amphibians
Cannot be killed, taken, or kept.
Endangered & threatened
ocelot, whooping crane, Houston toad (all endangered)
Cannot be touched, taken, or possessed without a special state/federal permit.
Exotic / non-native
feral hogs, axis and other exotic deer
Not protected as game, but exotic deer need a hunting license and the landowner's OK. Feral hogs need no license on private property with the owner's OK.
Two rules that surprise people
You generally can't keep native wildlife
Not as a pet, not 'just until it's better.' Possessing most native wildlife without a permit is illegal (Parks & Wildlife Code 43.022). That's what permitted rehabbers are for.
You often can't move an animal
Even off your own land. Live foxes, skunks, coyotes, and raccoons can't be transported at all (rabies law). Other animals need TPWD authorization to relocate. Trapping and dumping an animal 'out in the country' is usually illegal - and it doesn't work anyway.
The kindest rule of all
Don't feed the wildlife
It feels kind. It isn't. Feeding wild animals - deer, coyotes, gators, ducks, raccoons, bears - teaches them to depend on people and lose their natural fear. They crowd, fight, get hit by cars, spread disease, and turn into 'nuisance' animals that often have to be killed. A fed animal is a dead animal.
- Feeding alligators is illegal (and dangerous).
- Don't leave pet food out, secure your trash, and clean up under bird feeders (spilled seed draws rodents, which draw snakes and coyotes).
- Feeding deer can concentrate them and help spread disease like CWD; some areas restrict it.
Keep going
Official sources
Animal classifications and the rules on keeping, moving, and feeding wildlife come from TPWD. Possessing most native wildlife without a permit is illegal.
- Data vintage:
- Wildlife classifications as reviewed June 2026
- Last reviewed:
- June 15, 2026
- TPWD - Nongame, Exotic, Endangered & Protected Species - The official categories
- TPWD - Living with Wildlife
Caution: The categories are stable, but licenses and permits have details that change. The official TPWD pages are the final word.
Spot something that needs a Texas check?
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