Whitby ready to pass strict bylaw against feeding critters in residents’ backyards

If you are feeding chipmunks and squirrels in your backyard, the left-overs are simply creating a Happy Meal for much larger predatory animals.

So said Whitby, as they put forward one of the strictest anti-wildlife-feeding bylaws on municipal books.

The town already prohibits residents from feeding wildlife on town property. This week, the town’s Committee of the Whole took aim at residents’ backyards.

The concern is not so much that residents are creating chubbier chipmunks and more a matter of what’s left behind as table scraps that could attract coyotes and other larger animals.

If the bylaw is passed by Whitby Council on Monday (November 29) – and it is expected to – municipal bylaw officers can now approach homeowners and tell him to stop feeding wildlife on their property. After early warnings, there is the potential to ticket and fine repeat offenders.

(Image: YouTube)