(a) Prohibition. Except as otherwise provided in division (b) of this section, no person shall hunt, kill, or attempt to kill any animal, wild quadruped, bird, or fowl by any means within the corporate limits of the City.
(b) Permit to Hunt. The Public Safety Director, or his designee, in his or her sole discretion, is hereby authorized to issue permits to owners of real property within the City to allow the property owner or the property owner's designee to hunt nuisance bird or wild quadrupeds on the owner's property. Such permitted hunting shall be by bow and arrow only, and such hunting shall be conducted in compliance with Ohio's hunting and game laws and regulations, including any season limitations or number limitations, and any conditions imposed by the Public Safety Director. The City Manager is hereby authorized to establish, by administrative directive, a fee for such hunting permit.
(c) Penalties. Whoever violates this section is guilty of a misdemeanor of the third degree.
(d) Definitions. For the purposes of this section, the following definitions shall apply:
(1) "Animal" means any living animal other than a human being.
(2) "Bird" means a warm-blooded egg-laying vertebrate distinguished by the possession of feathers, wings, and a beak and typically being able to fly.
(3) "Fowl" means domesticated birds, including chicken, ducks, and geese.
(4) "Nuisance birds" means any wild bird that is causing verifiable damage to real property, farm crops, livestock, or fowl.
(5) "Nuisance wild quadruped" means any wild quadruped that is causing verifiable damage to property, farm crops, livestock, or fowl.
(6) "Wild quadruped" includes cottontail rabbits, squirrels, chipmunks, groundhogs or woodchucks, white-tailed deer, minks, weasels, raccoons, skunks, opossums, muskrats, fox, beavers, badgers, otters, coyotes, bobcats, wild boar, elk, and black bears.
(1964 Code 505.11; Ord. 06-34. Adopted 05/25/06; Ord. 11-70. Adopted 11/22/11; Ord. 2019-22. Adopted 11/26/19; Ord. 2022-41. Adopted 10/27/22)