How do I keep javelina away from my bird feeder?

The short answer

• Javelina feed on the ground. University of Arizona Extension and Arizona Game and Fish both point at birdseed scattered under the feeder, so the fix is the spill, not the feeder.
• In Arizona, feeding or attracting wildlife is a petty offense (fine up to $300) in counties over 280,000 people: Maricopa, Pima and Pinal. Birds are exempt; javelina are not.
• The first Pima County conviction was a resident who kept feeding javelina and was ordered to stop putting food on the ground. A feeder is legal. A standing pile of seed that a herd visits nightly is the risk.
• A sturdy 4 ft fence keeps javelina out of a yard (University of Arizona Extension). A single electric wire 8 to 10 in off the ground works less reliably.
• Bites are almost always tied to people feeding javelina (Arizona Game and Fish). Keep dogs in: javelina treat them as predators.

Take the seed off the ground. Javelina (collared peccaries) do not raid a hanging feeder the way a raccoon does. They work the ground, and University of Arizona Extension names the exact problem: "birdseed scattered on the ground is an attractant." Put a tray under the feeder, stop using cheap mixes heavy in milo, rake up what falls, and if the herd keeps coming, fence the yard at 4 ft. In Maricopa, Pima and Pinal counties there is a legal reason to do it as well as a practical one.

Two answers circulate. Agencies say remove your bird feeders: New Mexico's Department of Game and Fish told residents in 2008 to "remove all bird feeders that may be attracting javelina." Bird feeding pages say Arizona law exempts birds, so carry on. Both are partly right. Arizona's statute does exempt birds, but it also covers anyone who "recklessly" attracts wildlife, and Arizona Game and Fish's own advice is to keep feeding birds from a feeder with a tray under it. The feeder can stay. The pile on the ground cannot.

Is it javelina?#

A javelina herd leaves a different scene from the other animals that clean up under a feeder.

UA Extension places it below the Mogollon Rim in Arizona and east into New Mexico and Texas. The difference from other raiders is the herd. One skunk is a pest. Ten javelina that have learned your yard visit it every day, and UA Extension notes that animals "attracted to one home often visit neighboring lots."

If you only find the evidence in the morning, the night suspects are sorted in what is emptying my feeder at night.

What Arizona's feeding law actually says#

A.R.S. 13-2927 is short. A person commits unlawful feeding of wildlife by "intentionally, knowingly or recklessly feeding, attracting or otherwise enticing wildlife into an area." Four exceptions follow, and one of them is "tree squirrels or birds." The section "applies in a county with a population of more than two hundred eighty thousand persons," and the offense is a petty offense. Under A.R.S. 13-802, a petty offense fine is "not more than three hundred dollars."

Three things the table hides:

1. The birds exemption covers the birds. The first person prosecuted in Pima County, in 2011, had repeatedly fed javelina and was "ordered to stop placing food for wildlife on the ground," KOLD reported. Our reading of the statute: seed that keeps a herd coming back night after night is close to "recklessly attracting" wildlife, whatever it was meant for. A clean tray and a raked yard keep you clearly inside the exemption.
2. Yavapai County is outside the state law. Its population was 252,552 in 2025 by the Census Bureau's estimate, below the 280,000 line. UA Extension says javelina are "common across much of Yavapai County," yet in Prescott and the Verde Valley the state law does not reach you. A town ordinance might.
3. The line moves with population. Agency advice from 2008 and 2012 names only Pima and Maricopa; by 2013 Pinal was on the list. Yavapai grew by about 10,000 people from 2021 to 2025.

The spill is the food#

Javelina are "opportunistic feeders" (UA Extension) with poor eyesight and a keen sense of smell, so a patch of fallen seed is easy to find and easy to come back to. TPWD says they feed 4 to 6 hours a day in summer and 13 to 15 in winter.

Prices are 2026 United States big-bag benchmarks used as defaults in our seed cost calculator. Swap in your own and the ranking can change; the edible fraction and energy columns will not.

1. Put a tray under the feeder. This is Arizona Game and Fish's own advice: feed birds "in an enclosed yard, preferably in a bird feeder," and "a tray can be attached beneath a feeder to catch spillover seed." Empty the tray before dusk in summer.
2. Drop the milo. UA Extension says to "avoid inexpensive birdseed which contains a large percentage of milo." Birds flick milo out of a cheap birdseed mix to reach the sunflower, and it lands where javelina feed.
3. Feed seed with no hull. Sunflower hearts leave no shells for birds to drop, and nyjer in a finch tube draws lesser goldfinches with little falling to the ground.
4. Take in the ground food. Loose cracked corn and white proso millet scattered for quail and doves are, from a javelina's point of view, the same thing as feeding javelina. So is a ground feeder or an open platform tray at ground level.
5. Put out only what the birds clear. Fill for a morning, not a week. How much seed builds up under one feeder, and how fast, is in seed waste and mess.
6. Water counts too. UA Extension says "food and water attract javelina." A ground-level dish in a dry yard is a draw. Keep it inside the fence, or use one of the raised designs on our bird baths and water page.

Store the seed bag in a lidded metal can, not a paper sack in an open carport. The routine is in storing birdseed.

The fence#

UA Extension calls exclusion the most effective fix: "a sturdy, four-foot tall fence." Where a solid fence is not practical, it suggests "a single wire 8 to 10 inches above the ground," and adds that "given the javelina's thick fur and shear strength, this strategy is not always successful." Keep the gates shut.

Clear the cover too. New Mexico's advisory suggests trimming shrubbery near ground level to remove hiding places, and the same dense brush is where a herd beds down between visits.

Why the agencies care: bites, dogs and lions#

Bites follow feeding. "Javelina occasionally bite people, and such incidents are almost always associated with people providing the javelina with food," an Arizona Game and Fish regional supervisor told KOLD. In Sedona in February 2018, two people who had been feeding herds were bitten on the leg, and the department removed javelina within a quarter mile of both homes. In Tucson in 2019, a woman who habitually fed javelina was bitten by a female with young, and rabies shots were recommended.

Dogs are at risk. UA Extension says pet dogs "are often viewed as predators, subsequently attacked, and can be seriously injured or killed by javelinas." Keep the dog in when a herd is in the yard. Javelina "fend off adversaries by squaring off, laying back their ears, and clattering their canines": back off when you hear it.

The herd brings the next animal. Arizona Game and Fish says mountain lions prey on javelina, and New Mexico warns that fed javelina can draw lions into neighborhoods. Seed also feeds the small prey that draws bobcats. In bear country, the same seed is a bear attractant, and the rules on that are on our bear feeding laws by state page.

When the herd is busiest#

In Texas, TPWD says young "can be seen in the herd at any time." For the rest of the hot season's feeder routine, see summer bird feeding.

What does not help#

Feeding them on purpose, somewhere else. A separate pile at the back of the lot is still attracting wildlife, and in the three Arizona counties it is exactly what the statute forbids.

Harming them. Javelina are a game animal in Arizona and Texas. UA Extension says they "may not be harmed or hunted without a valid license." Call Arizona Game and Fish, NM Game and Fish or TPWD about a herd that will not leave or acts aggressive.

Where this page stops#

• City codes. We read the Arizona statute, not municipal codes. A town can add its own feeding rule, so ask your town clerk.
• New Mexico. The $500 figure comes from a 2008 department release. We did not read the current statute.
• Texas. We found no statewide rule on feeding javelina. Local rules were not checked.

The same spill feeds rats and mice at night, so the tray and the rake solve two problems. Every other symptom is matched to its cause on the problems hub.

Frequently asked questions#

Do javelina eat bird seed?

Yes. University of Arizona Extension says birdseed scattered on the ground attracts javelina, and Arizona Game and Fish advice reprinted by the university says bears and javelina may be attracted by bird seed, and names pet food and garbage too. Javelina are opportunistic feeders with a keen sense of smell. They work the ground, so what they find is the seed birds drop or throw out, and cheap mixes heavy in milo produce the most of it.

Is it illegal to feed javelina in Arizona?

In Maricopa, Pima and Pinal counties, yes. A.R.S. 13-2927 makes it an offense to intentionally, knowingly or recklessly feed, attract or entice wildlife in any county of more than 280,000 people. Tree squirrels and birds are exempt; javelina are not. It is a petty offense, and Arizona caps petty offense fines at $300. Elsewhere in Arizona the state law does not apply, though a city or town may have its own rule.

Can I get in trouble if javelina eat the seed under my bird feeder?

Feeding birds is exempt, so the feeder itself is not the problem. The statute also covers recklessly attracting wildlife, though, and in the first Pima County conviction a resident who kept feeding javelina was ordered by the court to stop placing food on the ground. Arizona Game and Fish advises feeding birds from a feeder in an enclosed yard, with a tray under the feeder to catch spilled seed. Do that and keep the ground clear.

How tall does a fence need to be to keep javelina out?

University of Arizona Extension says the most effective exclusion is a sturdy fence 4 ft tall. Where a solid fence is not practical, it suggests a single electric wire 8 to 10 in above the ground, and warns that the javelina's thick fur and strength mean this does not always work. The fence matters only if every gate closes, since a herd that knows the yard will test the gaps.

Are javelina dangerous to people and dogs?

They rarely bite people who have not fed them. Arizona Game and Fish says bites are almost always associated with people providing javelina with food. Dogs are a different matter: University of Arizona Extension says javelina often view pet dogs as predators and can seriously injure or kill them. Keep dogs in when a herd is around, and give a mother with young a wide berth: the 2019 Tucson bite was a female with young.

Sources and further reading

1. A.R.S. 13-2927, Unlawful feeding of wildlife; classification Arizona State Legislature Intentionally, knowingly or recklessly feeding, attracting or otherwise enticing wildlife; exceptions include tree squirrels or birds; applies in a county of more than 280,000 persons; petty offense
2. A.R.S. 13-802, Fines for misdemeanors Arizona State Legislature Fine for a petty offense not more than $300
3. Javelinas (Backyard Gardener #32, 30 Aug 2022) Jeff Schalau, University of Arizona Cooperative Extension, Yavapai County 35 to 60 lb; herds of 5 to 15; range below the Mogollon Rim and into Flagstaff; breeding peaks January to March, most births June to August, usually two young; dogs attacked; prickly pear the major food; sturdy 4 ft fence; single electric wire 8 to 10 in, not always successful; birdseed scattered on the ground an attractant, avoid cheap seed with much milo; game animal
4. Javelina Resistant Plants (AZ1238, August 2017) Jeff Schalau, University of Arizona Cooperative Extension Omnivorous, poor eyesight, keen sense of smell; exclusion is the only certain method
5. Potential Wildlife Conflicts (Backyards and Beyond, Fall 2008) University of Arizona College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, adapted from Arizona Game and Fish Bears and javelina may be attracted by bird seed; seed also draws prey that draws bobcats and mountain lions; javelina attracted to one home often visit neighboring lots
6. Javelinas (Introducing Mammals) Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Up to 55 lb, 18 to 20 in at the shoulder, 3 ft long; herds of 5 to 30; home range about 550 acres, seldom more than a mile a day; feed 4 to 6 hours a day in summer, 13 to 15 in winter; prickly pear more than half the diet; young at any time of year
7. Javelina (Trans-Pecos wildlife management) Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Early morning and late afternoon in winter, largely nocturnal in hot weather; poor eyesight; game animal in Texas, taken with a license in counties with a season
8. Collared Peccary (The Mammals of Texas, online edition) Natural Science Research Laboratory, Texas Tech University Weight 13 to 25 kg; groups of a few to several dozen; breed year round, usually two young
9. Javelina feeding advisory (12 March 2008) New Mexico Department of Game and Fish Feeding game animals such as javelina that become a nuisance can bring a citation and a fine up to $500; remove bird feeders that may be attracting javelina; trim shrubbery; ask neighbors
10. Green Valley residents warned feeding wildlife is illegal (29 Aug 2012) KOLD News 13 Arizona Game and Fish: bites almost always associated with feeding; javelina attract mountain lions; feed birds in an enclosed yard, preferably in a feeder, with a tray beneath to catch spillover
11. Southern Arizonans reminded feeding wildlife is illegal (31 Jan 2014) KOLD News 13 Pima, Maricopa and Pinal counties; first Pima County prosecution in 2011, sentenced and ordered to stop placing food for wildlife on the ground; feeder or seed block in an enclosed yard or on a secure raised platform
12. AZ Game and Fish: It's illegal to feed wildlife (9 Apr 2013) KJZZ Law applies in Maricopa, Pima and Pinal counties; nine Tucson-area warning letters in a month
13. AZGFD reminding the public not to feed wildlife after javelina bite two in Sedona (21 Mar 2018) KOLD News 13 Two bites in February 2018, both victims feeding javelina; lethal removal within a quarter mile; a Sedona javelina had tested positive for rabies eight months earlier
14. Javelina bite could lead to fine and rabies shots (22 Oct 2019) Arizona Public Media Tucson woman who habitually fed javelina bitten by a female with young; could face a $300 fine; rabies shots recommended
15. Resident Population in Yavapai County, AZ U.S. Census Bureau, via FRED, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis 252,552 in 2025, up from 242,454 in 2021