Coyote Hunting North Dakota, Laws, Regulations, Season, & License Info

Coyote classification & license in North Dakota

What is the classification of coyotes in North Dakota?

A fur-bearer, by statute and by name. NDCC 20.1-01-02 lists what counts:

“Fur-bearers” includes mink, muskrats, weasels, wolverines, otters, martens, fishers, kit or swift foxes, beavers, raccoons, badgers, wolves, coyotes, bobcats, lynx, mountain lions, black bears, and red or gray foxes.¹

Unlike Nebraska and Kansas to the south, where the useful discovery is that a coyote sits outside the category a restriction names, North Dakota’s classification puts it squarely inside one. The Small Game, Waterfowl and Furbearer Proclamation is the rulebook, and the coyote is in it — which is what grants the night hunting season, and what requires the license.

The proclamation’s definitions section points straight back at the statute: “‘Game’ shall include any of those species of small game or furbearers as defined in Section 20.1-01-02 of the North Dakota Century Code.”²

Are coyotes protected in North Dakota?

They are protected in the technical sense that they are regulated wildlife rather than an unprotected species — which is why the license applies. In practical terms there is no closed season and no limit: “Unlimited numbers of any furbearer may be taken and possessed, unless otherwise specified.”³

North Dakota’s genuinely unprotected species are prairie dogs, rabbits, skunks and ground squirrels. The coyote is not one of them, and the difference is a license.

Is a hunting license required to hunt coyotes in North Dakota?

Yes, for residents sixteen and over — a furbearer license. This is the answer most often given wrongly, so it is worth reading the statute rather than a summary. NDCC 20.1-03-03 sets out what residents must hold:

No resident of this state, except as provided in section 20.1-03-04, may: … Trap, catch, attempt to catch, take, or kill any protected fur-bearing animal without having a resident fur-bearer license.⁴

The exemption list in 20.1-03-04 is short and specific: “Residents under age sixteen may take fur-bearers without a fur-bearer license,”⁵ and a resident or a family member living with them “may hunt small game, fish, or trap during the open season without a license upon land owned or leased by the resident.”⁶

Read that landowner exemption carefully. It covers hunting small game and trapping on your own ground. Coyote is a fur-bearer, not small game, so a landowner shooting coyotes on their own land is relying on the trapping half of the sentence only if they are trapping. Ask NDGF before assuming the exemption covers a rifle.

What it costs. The resident Furbearer license is $20, plus the $2 Fishing, Hunting, Furbearer Certificate that is required to hunt at all in North Dakota — so $22 for a resident coyote hunter.⁷ There is no general game and habitat license on top, because that one is required only to take small game or big game.⁸ Residents fifteen and younger need no license.⁷

The prices above are resident prices. The non-resident route is narrow and the sentence has to be read closely — see what a non-resident needs.

Is hunter education required?

Yes, on a fixed birth date rather than a rolling age:

No person born after December 31, 1961 … may be issued any hunting license in this state unless that person submits or exhibits the certificate of completion earned by that person for successful completion of the course of instruction⁹

A certificate from any other state or Canadian province is valid for all purposes.⁹ Two exemptions apply: people under twelve who hunt only with a parent or legal guardian, and “Persons who hunt exclusively on land of which they are the record title owner or operator.”¹⁰

There is also an apprentice hunter validation — one license year in a lifetime, for someone twelve or older without the certificate, valid only when accompanied by a licensed adult within unaided verbal contact.¹¹

Can a non-resident hunt coyotes in North Dakota?

Yes, and the license that permits it is narrow — read the sentence. NDCC 20.1-03-07 bars non-residents from taking protected fur-bearing animals, then carves out exactly two routes:

Trap, catch, attempt to catch, take, or kill any protected fur-bearing animal, except that nonresidents holding a valid nonresident fur-bearer and nongame hunting license may hunt only fox and coyote and except that residents of a state that allows North Dakota residents to trap within that state may purchase a nonresident reciprocal trapping license to trap in this state.¹²

So the Furbearer and Nongame license is a fox-and-coyote license for a non-resident, and nothing else. It costs $50, plus the $5 non-resident certificate — $55 all in.¹³ That is one of the better-value predator licenses in the country, and cheaper than crossing into South Dakota at $46 plus certificate only if you were buying nothing else.

The non-resident reciprocal trapping license is $350 plus certificate, and holders of it may not take bobcats, mountain lions, fishers or river otter.¹³

See also is a hunting license required — the license rules there, and the exemptions and add-ons that go with them, apply to you too.

Season, hours & bag limits in North Dakota

What is the season for coyote hunting in North Dakota?

Year-round for day hunting, on a technicality that is worth knowing.

Red Fox, gray fox, coyote and badger may be taken with firearms, pre-charged pneumatic air guns, archery equipment (including crossbows), and dogs statewide and year-round. … The season will officially close March 31 and reopen April 1 of each year.¹⁴

The one-day close and reopen is what makes it a season on paper rather than an open license, which matters because several other rules — the optics exception in particular — are written as applying “during the open season on the animal.”

The night hunting season is separate and much shorter. See night hunting.

What is the bag limit for coyotes in North Dakota?

None. “Unlimited numbers of any furbearer may be taken and possessed, unless otherwise specified.”³ Nothing in the proclamation specifies otherwise for coyote.

What are the legal hunting hours for coyotes in North Dakota?

By day: half an hour before sunrise to half an hour after sunset.

Hours for hunting red and gray fox, bobcat, mountain lion, coyote, beaver, raccoon and badger with firearms, archery equipment, and dogs shall be from one-half hour before sunrise to one-half hour after sunset each day except for fox and coyote outlined in Section 22.¹⁵

Section 22 is the furbearer season section, and the exception it carries is the night hunting season. Outside that season, half an hour after sunset is the end of your day.

Can you hunt coyotes during deer or big game season?

Yes, with one restriction that is about vehicles rather than firearms: “It is illegal to drive vehicles off established roads and trails during the deer gun season while attempting to take furbearers with firearms, archery equipment, and dogs.”¹⁶

North Dakota imposes no equivalent of Nebraska’s November centerfire restriction, so your coyote rifle is unaffected by the deer seasons. Wear blaze orange anyway when rifle deer hunters are on the same sections.

Night hunting coyotes in North Dakota

Can you hunt coyotes at night in North Dakota?

Yes, but only inside a defined season, and only on foot. No other state on this site runs night hunting as its own season with its own dates:

Red Fox, gray fox, and coyote may be taken with firearms and pre-charged pneumatic air guns at any hour during the night hunting season from November 23, 2026, through May 31, 2027. Beginning January 4, 2027, hunters can also use archery equipment (including crossbows) for night hunting of red fox, gray fox, and coyotes. Any person who engages in the hunting of red fox, gray fox, or coyotes during the time from one-half hour after sunset to one-half hour before sunrise, must hunt exclusively on foot.¹⁷

Three things fall out of that paragraph:

• The dates move each year. They are set by proclamation, not by statute, so check them before every season rather than assuming the 23 November opener holds.
• Archery and crossbow come in six weeks late, on 4 January 2027. Firearms and pre-charged pneumatic air guns run the whole season.
• “Exclusively on foot” is the same phrase Nebraska uses, and it means what it says: no shooting from a vehicle, no driving between stands with a loaded rifle, no using a vehicle as part of the hunt after dark.

Outside 23 November to 31 May, there is no night hunting for coyotes in North Dakota at all — except the landowner depredation route below.

Can you use artificial lights for coyote hunting in North Dakota?

Yes, inside the season — and this is the answer that has changed most. The proclamation states the prohibition and its exception in one sentence:

Use of artificial light, night vision, thermal vision, or infrared light for locating or hunting game is prohibited, except for beaver, raccoon, red fox, gray fox, or coyote during the open night hunting season on the animal.¹⁸

So the permission is scoped twice over — to the species, and to the season. Quote only half of it and you will get the answer wrong in one direction or the other.

Then the statute adds two conditions the proclamation does not mention, and the statute is the higher authority:

An individual may use an artificial light, night vision, thermal vision, or infrared light with a power source of not more than six volts while hunting afoot for coyote, fox, raccoon, or beaver during the open season on the animal. The artificial light must produce a red, green, or amber color when used in the hunting of coyote, fox, raccoon, or beaver, except when taking a raccoon treed or at bay.¹⁹

The six-volt cap is the sentence to read twice. Grammatically it attaches to the whole list — artificial light, night vision, thermal vision and infrared light — not to the lamp alone. Two CR123 cells in series are exactly 6.0 volts and a single 18650 is 3.7, so most handheld scanners and most rifle-mounted thermals sit inside it; a 12-volt battery pack driving a big spotlight does not. Check the power source of anything you intend to carry after dark, and if you are unsure about a specific unit, ask a NDGF game warden rather than guessing.

The color requirement applies to the light only. White light is out for coyotes. Red, green or amber is in.

Can you use night vision in North Dakota?

Yes, during the night hunting season, on foot, with the six-volt cap. Night vision is named in both the proclamation’s exception and the statute’s, alongside artificial light, thermal and infrared.^{18 19}

Outside the season it is prohibited not only for shooting but for locating game, which is the broader offence — scanning a section with a night vision monocular in July is caught by the same sentence as shooting over it in December.¹⁸

Can you use thermal in North Dakota?

Yes, on the same terms. North Dakota names thermal expressly rather than leaving it to be argued from a definition, which is a real advantage — compare South Dakota, where thermal is legal only because “night-vision equipment” is defined broadly enough to swallow it.

“Thermal vision” appears in the prohibition and in both statutory exceptions.^{18 19} That means it is lawful for coyotes from 23 November to 31 May, afoot, on a power source of not more than six volts — and unlawful the rest of the year, including for locating.

Are there specific weapons restrictions for hunting coyotes at night in North Dakota?

Yes — the weapon list is shorter at night than by day, and it changes mid-season. Firearms and pre-charged pneumatic air guns run the whole night season; archery equipment and crossbows are added only from 4 January 2027.¹⁷ Dogs are not on the night list at all, and the general hours rule puts hunting coyotes with dogs inside daylight hours.¹⁵

There is no caliber cap of the kind South Dakota applies at night. The .22-caliber limit in NDCC 20.1-01-09 is written for taking raccoon or beaver with a flashlight and does not reach coyotes.²⁰

The landowner route, which has no season and no six-volt cap

Separate from all of the above, NDCC 20.1-01-08 carries a depredation exception that is unusually generous:

At any time throughout the year, an individual or the individual’s agent may use a lantern, spotlight, night vision, thermal vision, infrared light, or other artificial light to assist the individual in pursuing and shooting on the individual’s premises any coyote, fox, skunk, mink, raccoon, beaver, weasel, rabbit, or other predatory animal attempting to destroy the individual’s poultry, livestock, or other property²¹

No season, no six-volt limit, no color requirement — but three conditions instead: it must be your own premises, you may act through an agent, and the animal must be attempting to destroy your property. It is a livestock-protection provision, not a second night hunting season, and treating it as one is how people get in trouble with it.

Firearms, ammunition & suppressors in North Dakota

What firearms are allowed or restricted for coyote hunting in North Dakota?

By day: firearms, pre-charged pneumatic air guns, archery equipment including crossbows, and dogs, statewide and year-round.¹⁴ North Dakota sets no caliber floor or ceiling for coyotes.

The small game firearm restrictions in the proclamation — no smaller than .410, no larger than 10 gauge, shot only, three shells — are written for small game, and a coyote is a fur-bearer.²² They do not reach it.

For open prairie the practical North Dakota rifle is a flat-shooting centerfire. See the best coyote gun.

Are suppressors allowed for coyote hunting in North Dakota?

Yes, and North Dakota says so in statute rather than leaving it to inference:

An individual in lawful possession of a device that will silence or deaden the sound or natural report of a firearm when the firearm is discharged may hunt any game for which the individual is licensed and for which a firearm is allowed with that device for or attached to the firearm.²³

The same section permits hunting with a short-barrelled rifle.²³ Both remain federal matters — ATF Form 4, tax stamp, approval — but North Dakota adds nothing on top.

Are there any ammunition restrictions?

None for coyotes. The proclamation’s non-toxic shot requirement is written for ducks, geese, sandhill cranes, snipe, tundra swans, mergansers and coots, and separately for upland game on US Fish and Wildlife Service lands.²⁴ Neither reaches a coyote taken with a rifle.

Federal refuges and waterfowl production areas set their own conditions — check the unit before you hunt it.

Can you hunt using a .22 LR or other rimfire cartridge?

Yes. No North Dakota rule sets a minimum caliber for coyotes, day or night. The .22-caliber maximum in NDCC 20.1-01-09 applies to taking raccoon or beaver with a flashlight, not to coyotes.²⁰

On prairie distances a rimfire is a short-range tool. It is a reasonable choice for a called-in coyote inside 75 yards and a poor one past that.

Is there a magazine capacity limit for hunting coyotes in North Dakota?

No. North Dakota sets no magazine capacity limit for hunting fur-bearers and no permit requirement for a semi-automatic rifle. A standard AR-15 with a 30-round magazine is lawful for coyotes.

The three-shell limit in the proclamation is part of the small game firearm rule, and applies to shotguns loaded with shot.²² It does not apply to a coyote rifle.

One rule that does apply everywhere: “No person may carry a firearm with a cartridge in the chamber in or on a motor-driven vehicle while hunting,” and handguns with removable magazines must have any loaded magazine removed.²⁵

Calls, decoys, bait & dogs in North Dakota

Are electronic calls allowed for coyote hunting in North Dakota?

Yes, day or night, with no restriction. North Dakota’s proclamation carries no prohibition on recorded or electronically amplified calls for fur-bearers.

Note that the requirement to carry a predator call at night, which older write-ups still repeat, is not in the current proclamation. The night hunting rule requires you to be on foot and says nothing about a call.¹⁷

Are decoys allowed for coyote hunting in North Dakota?

Yes, including motion decoys. Nothing in the proclamation or in Title 20.1 restricts decoys for fur-bearers.

Is baiting allowed for coyote hunting in North Dakota?

Yes for shooting, with one statutory condition and one trapping restriction.

The condition is permission: “Without permission from the owner or an individual authorized by the owner of the property, an individual may not enter upon another person’s property and intentionally place bait to attract or manipulate the behavior of wildlife.”²⁶ First offence is a class 1 noncriminal offence; a second carries a $250 fine.²⁶

The trapping restriction is about placement: “It is illegal to place traps or cable devices (snares) within twenty-five feet of any sight-exposed bait.”²⁷ “Sight-exposed bait” is defined as bait over one pound of animal flesh, fur, hair, hide, entrails or feathers, placed so it can be seen by a soaring hawk, owl or eagle.²⁸ That is a raptor-protection rule and it governs where you set, not whether you may bait.

Can you use dogs to hunt coyotes in North Dakota?

Yes, by day. Coyotes “may be taken with firearms, pre-charged pneumatic air guns, archery equipment (including crossbows), and dogs statewide and year-round.”¹⁴

Not at night. Dogs are absent from the night hunting season’s list of legal methods,¹⁷ and the general hours rule puts hunting coyote with dogs between half an hour before sunrise and half an hour after sunset.¹⁵ The night season is a firearms, air gun and — from 4 January — archery season, on foot.

Written permission is required to enter privately owned land to trap fur-bearers,²⁹ and running hounds across property lines is where that bites.

Private property, vehicles & public land access in North Dakota

Is it legal to shoot coyotes on private property (e.g. in your backyard) in North Dakota?

On rural private land with permission, yes. A resident landowner protecting livestock or poultry also has the year-round light, night vision and thermal route under NDCC 20.1-01-08(1) on their own premises.²¹

In town, municipal discharge ordinances govern and they are not published by the state. Check with the city.

Can you hunt coyotes from a motorized vehicle in North Dakota?

No, and North Dakota states it three ways.

It is illegal to shoot with bow and arrow or firearm while in or on a motor-driven vehicle, except as otherwise provided by law. No person may carry a firearm with a cartridge in the chamber in or on a motor-driven vehicle while hunting²⁵

The statute adds harassment: no person operating an aircraft or motor vehicle “may intentionally kill, chase, or harass any wild animal or wild bird, protected or unprotected,” and the same applies to snowmobiles.³⁰

At night the point is settled anyway — you must be exclusively on foot.¹⁷

Aircraft and drones are out for locating as well as taking: “It is illegal to drive, concentrate, rally, raise, stir up, or disturb game with all types of aircraft, manned or unmanned.”³¹

Can you hunt coyotes on public land in North Dakota?

Yes, with three things to check.

Wildlife management areas. “A permit from the Director is required to take furbearers on those state wildlife management areas and state easement refuges posted closed to hunting.”³²

PLOTS ground is walking access. “No person may use motor-driven vehicles on North Dakota Game and Fish Department Conservation PLOTS (Private Land Open To Sportsmen) property without written permission from the landowner or as otherwise signed by the Department.”³³ PLOTS boundaries are marked with large yellow triangular signs and mapped in the annual PLOTS Guide.³³

Non-residents are locked out for a week in October. “Nonresidents shall be prohibited from hunting from October 10, 2026 through October 16, 2026 on Game and Fish Department wildlife management areas or Conservation PLOTS Areas,” except on PLOTS land they own.³⁴

Federal refuges, sanctuaries, military installations, parks and historic sites posted to trespassing or hunting are closed to hunting and trapping of fur-bearer species; refuge managers may designate areas and times where it is permitted.³²

Is it legal to trap or snare coyotes in North Dakota?

Yes, and trapping runs year-round while snaring does not.

Red Fox, gray fox, coyote and badger may be taken with traps statewide and year-round. The season will officially close March 31 and reopen April 1 of each year. Cable devices (snares) may only be used statewide from November 23, 2026 through March 15, 2027.³⁵

Cable devices carry their own rulebook: a breakaway or lock that disassembles at no more than 350 pounds pull, a tag with the trapper’s name and address or equipment registration number, one stop to keep the loop under 12 inches, the bottom of the loop no more than 12 inches off the ground, single or multi-strand steel cable of one-sixteenth inch or larger, affixed to an immovable object, no drags.^{36 37} Written landowner permission is required before setting on private land or PLOTS.³⁷

Trappers must report any fur-bearer taken out of season, or any protected species taken incidentally, within twelve hours and turn over the carcass.³⁸

Is it legal to poison coyotes in North Dakota?

Not as a private individual. Predator toxicants are restricted-use pesticides applied by certified applicators through USDA-APHIS Wildlife Services, not something a landowner or hunter may deploy. If you have a livestock predation problem, the route is Wildlife Services and the North Dakota Department of Agriculture, not a bait station.

Are there protected areas or additional local restrictions in North Dakota?

Yes. Protected fur-bearers are closed entirely — “The season for Canada lynx (Lynx canadensis), gray wolf (Canis lupus), swift fox (Vulpes velox), black bear (Ursus americanus), and wolverine (Gulo gulo) shall remain closed.”³⁹ Swift fox and gray wolf both matter on a coyote page: identify before you shoot, especially at night.

Tribal land is a separate jurisdiction. An individual hunting on Indian land under a tribal license is not required to hold a state license for that land,⁴⁰ and the reverse is equally true — a state license does not authorize you there. Get tribal permission.

Posted land. North Dakota’s posting statute and the trapping-permission statute both apply, and entering privately owned land to trap fur-bearers without written permission is a class B misdemeanour on a first offence.²⁹

After the shot: pelts, bounties & contests in North Dakota

Are there regulations for possessing or transporting dead coyotes or pelts across state lines?

No tag, no seal, no check-in for coyotes. North Dakota’s inspection and tagging requirements attach to bobcat, mountain lion, fisher, American marten and river otter — not to coyote.^{41 42}

Common carriers may not receive or transport protected animals outside the open season,⁴³ which for coyotes is not a practical constraint given the year-round season.

Can you sell coyote pelts, and do you need a fur handler’s license?

You can sell them, and the license is aimed at the buyer rather than the seller:

In accordance with N.D.C.C. 20.1-03-22, any person buying or shipping green furs is required to obtain a license.⁴⁴

The statute frames it as a business license — “No person may engage in the business of buying or shipping green furs in this state unless that person first obtains a license from the director” — expiring on 1 September each year.⁴⁵ Licensed dealers must keep records and report to the director.⁴⁶ Selling your own catch to a licensed buyer does not put you in that business; buying from other trappers, or shipping green furs commercially, does.

“Green furs” means furs intended for sale that have not been tanned or dressed, including furs still on the carcass.⁴⁷

Is there a coyote bounty program in North Dakota?

No state bounty. North Dakota does not pay per animal, and unlike South Dakota next door — which began paying residents $30 a tail in April 2026 — it has not moved in that direction.

What North Dakota does instead is broker access. The Coyote Catalog, which connected landowners having coyote problems with hunters willing to travel, was discontinued in April 2026 and replaced by HuntLink, which “connects licensed hunters with landowners seeking to reduce certain game populations on their land.”⁴⁸ Landowners specify which species they want hunted, coyote among them, and hunters contact them directly to ask permission.⁴⁸ For a non-resident buying a $55 license, that is the single most useful page on the NDGF site.

If you hear of a county or township bounty, verify it with the county before planning around it. These are local budget decisions, they appear and disappear, and they are not published by the state.

Are coyote contests legal in North Dakota, or can I hunt in North Dakota for an out-of-state contest?

Yes to both. North Dakota has not banned predator hunting contests, and nothing in Title 20.1 or the proclamation restricts them. Winter tournaments run across the state and across the South Dakota and Minnesota lines.

One scheduling point that catches organizers out: a contest run before 23 November or after 31 May is a daylight-only contest, because the night hunting season is closed and the optics exception closes with it.¹⁸

Coyotes in North Dakota

Are there coyotes in North Dakota? How many, and where?

Yes, in every county, and NDGF calls the coyote the most popularly pursued fur-bearer in the state by both hunters and trappers. The strongest densities are in the Missouri River breaks and the badlands in the west, with good numbers through the Coteau and the grass and row-crop country east.

North Dakota publishes no population estimate. What it publishes instead is a trend: the department runs a rural mail carrier survey each April, using rural letter carriers’ observations along their routes as the earliest annual indicator of fur-bearer population direction. Coyote numbers have held steady to slightly higher in recent years and the harvest has trended up over the past decade.

Are North Dakota coyotes dangerous to people or pets?

To people, very rarely. To sheep, calves and poultry they are the state’s principal predator problem — which is what the year-round season, the depredation light exception and HuntLink all exist to address. Unattended small pets on the edge of town are at risk, particularly in winter.

When is coyote mating season in North Dakota, and when do pups arrive?

Breeding runs through February, with pups on the ground from April. Late winter is the best calling of the year — pairs are territorial, response is aggressive, and pelts are prime.

North Dakota’s night hunting season lines up unusually well with this: it opens 23 November and runs to 31 May, covering the whole of the breeding season and the pup period after it. That is a longer night window than most states give you, and it is the argument for buying the license.

When are coyotes most active in North Dakota?

First and last light year-round, with heavy night movement in open country. In deep winter, movement shifts later in the morning and earlier in the afternoon with the cold. For the full breakdown of season, weather and moon phase, see when to hunt coyotes.

What’s changing in North Dakota

• April 2026 — the Coyote Catalog was discontinued and folded into HuntLink, NDGF’s hunter-and-landowner contact program. Landowners now list coyote alongside other species they want reduced, and hunters contact them through the app.⁴⁸
• The night hunting season now runs to 31 May. The 2026-27 proclamation sets 23 November 2026 through 31 May 2027 for red fox, gray fox and coyote, with archery and crossbow added from 4 January 2027.¹⁷ These dates are set annually by proclamation — read them fresh each year rather than carrying last season’s forward.
• Lights, night vision, thermal and infrared are now expressly permitted for coyotes inside that season. The earlier rule prohibited spotlights, night vision, light-gathering optics and thermal for locating or hunting game with no coyote exception at all; the current proclamation carves one out by name.¹⁸ The six-volt cap and the red-green-amber color requirement in NDCC 20.1-01-08 still apply.¹⁹

These answers get re-checked before they go stale. The verification date at the top of the page is the record of when that last happened, not decoration.

Anything else worth noting about coyote hunting in North Dakota

North Dakota is a strong coyote state with one unusual shape to it: almost everything good about it is switched on and off by a date.

Four things to get right:

Buy the right license. Resident: $20 furbearer plus the $2 certificate. Non-resident: $50 furbearer and nongame plus the $5 certificate, and that license covers fox and coyote and nothing else.

Know the night season dates before you plan a trip. 23 November 2026 to 31 May 2027 this year, set annually by proclamation. Outside it there is no night hunting, no light, no night vision and no thermal — not even for scanning.

Check the power source on your optics. The statute caps you at six volts for light, night vision, thermal and infrared while hunting afoot. Most modern units are inside it. A big 12-volt spotlight is not, and neither is white light.

Be on foot after dark. “Exclusively on foot” is the phrase, and it is the rule most likely to end a night badly.

Is it legal to own a coyote as a pet in North Dakota?

Not without a license, which is a narrower answer than most states give. North Dakota classifies a coyote in captivity as nontraditional livestock, category 2 — “certain protected species or those species that may pose health risks to humans or animals or may be environmentally hazardous, as determined by the board” — a list that names coyotes expressly alongside badgers, mink, red and gray foxes and beavers.⁴⁹

Category 2 species require a license from the State Board of Animal Health for the maintenance of the animal, along with facility, fencing, identification and escape rules.⁵⁰ This is a livestock and disease regime, not a pet regime, and it is not a route to keeping a coyote in a house. Contact the Board of Animal Health before assuming otherwise.

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