Is It Legal to Kill Raccoons in Florida? Methods, Firearms, and Traps

Yes, it is legal to kill raccoons in Florida on your own property when the animal qualifies as nuisance wildlife, meaning it is causing or about to cause property damage, threatening public safety, or creating a disturbance in or around a building.¹ No permit from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is required. But the right to kill the animal is bounded by rules about who can do it, what methods are allowed, where a firearm can be discharged, and how the carcass is handled. Miss any of those and a pest problem can become a criminal charge.

When You Can Kill a Raccoon on Your Property

Florida Administrative Code Rule 68A-9.010 authorizes property owners to take nuisance wildlife on their own land. Raccoons are not on the state’s protected-species list, so no special authorization is needed to deal with one that is damaging your home or posing a safety threat.²

You can also authorize someone else to act for you. That person operates as your agent under the same rules you would follow, which is why many homeowners hire a licensed wildlife control operator. A neighbor or third party who kills a raccoon on your land without your direct authorization is not covered by the nuisance rule and risks violating state wildlife protections.²

Methods That Are Not Allowed

Even on your own property, Rule 68A-9.010 restricts how you can take a nuisance raccoon:

No firearm combined with an artificial light to locate and kill the animal.
No steel-jawed leghold traps.
Live traps and snares must be checked at least once every 24 hours.
No poison, unless it is a pesticide registered with the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and used exactly as the label directs.
No method that violates Florida’s animal cruelty law under Section 828.12.²

The poison restriction catches people out. Setting rat poison, antifreeze, or any toxic bait for a raccoon violates the nuisance wildlife rule and Florida’s general prohibition on poisoning wildlife under Rule 68A-4.001.³ Using a registered pesticide contrary to its labeling also violates Florida’s pesticide law. A first offense is a second-degree misdemeanor carrying up to 60 days in jail and a $500 fine; a subsequent violation becomes a first-degree misdemeanor with up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine.⁴ Poison also kills indiscriminately, so a dead pet or protected species downstream from your bait compounds the problem.

Firearms on Residential Property

Florida Statute 790.15 makes it a first-degree misdemeanor to knowingly discharge a firearm in a public place, over a public road, over occupied property, or recklessly or negligently outdoors on property zoned for residential use.⁵ A conviction carries up to one year in county jail and a fine of up to $1,000.⁶

The statute contains an exception for a person “lawfully defending life or property,” which could arguably cover shooting a raccoon that is actively destroying your home or threatening your family.⁵ That exception is narrow, and leaning on it for routine pest removal in a subdivision is a gamble. Responding officers will be answering a shots-fired call, not evaluating your nuisance wildlife claim on the spot.

Recreational firearm discharge in a residential area with one or more dwellings per acre is separately prohibited, even when no one is endangered. Many cities and counties add their own ordinances on top, sometimes stricter and sometimes with lower density thresholds. Check your local code before firing on your property.

Killing the Animal Humanely Is Required

A nuisance raccoon is still covered by Florida’s animal cruelty statute. Under Section 828.12, killing an animal in a way that causes unnecessary suffering is a first-degree misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail and a fine of up to $5,000. If the act is intentional and produces a cruel death or repeated unnecessary pain, it becomes aggravated animal cruelty, a third-degree felony with a fine of up to $10,000.⁷

Drowning, bludgeoning, or using glue traps on an animal the size of a raccoon are the kinds of actions that trigger these charges. Whatever method you use has to produce a quick death. A gunshot to the head with an appropriate firearm (where legal to discharge), a CO2 chamber, or a lethal injection administered by a veterinarian all meet that standard. If you are not confident you can dispatch the animal humanely, hire someone who can.

Live-Trapping Instead

Live-trapping is legal, and it is often the more practical choice for homeowners who cannot lawfully fire a gun on their lot. What you do after the raccoon is in the trap is where the rules tighten. Any raccoon caught in a live trap has to be either released lawfully or humanely euthanized within 24 hours of capture or the last trap inspection.⁸

You can release the animal on your own property if the capture point and release point sit on a single contiguous piece of land. Off-site relocation is legal only when the release site is at least 40 contiguous acres, located in the same county as the capture site, and you have written permission from the landowner. Public land, whether federal, state, county, or local, is off limits without written permission.⁸ Driving a trapped raccoon into another county or turning it loose in a state park is illegal. Transporting a wild-trapped live raccoon within, into, or out of Florida without an FWC permit is a separate violation.⁹

Disposing of the Carcass

Florida’s main carcass disposal statute, Section 823.041, applies to domestic animals like dogs, cats, and livestock, not wild raccoons.¹⁰ That does not mean you can leave one anywhere. General environmental and illegal-dumping laws still apply, and a carcass placed where it contaminates water or creates a public health hazard invites citations from code enforcement or the health department.

Most local waste services will accept a small animal carcass in residential trash if you double-bag and seal it. Confirm the protocol with your sanitation department, because some jurisdictions require notification or special handling. Burial on your own property is another common option, provided you dig at least two to three feet down so other animals cannot get to it.

Hunting Raccoons Is a Separate Authority

Outside the nuisance context, Florida allows raccoon hunting year-round with no closed season. Legal weapons include rifles, shotguns, pistols, muzzleloaders, air guns, crossbows, and bows. Night hunting is permitted but limited to .22-caliber rimfire firearms (not .22 magnums) or single-shot .410-gauge shotguns with shot no larger than size 6, and using lights from a moving vehicle, boat, or animal at night is illegal.⁹

Trapping raccoons or selling their hides, pelts, or meat requires a furbearer license, which costs $26.50.⁹ Hunting authority is distinct from the nuisance wildlife rules, so if you are taking raccoons on public land or on someone else’s property, standard hunting license requirements apply.

1
Florida Administrative Rules. Florida Administrative Code 68A-1.004 – Definitions
2
Legal Information Institute. Florida Administrative Code 68A-9.010 – Taking Nuisance Wildlife
3
Legal Information Institute. Florida Administrative Code 68A-4.001 – General Prohibitions
4
The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 487 – Florida Pesticide Law
5
The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 790.15 – Discharging Firearm in Public or on Residential Property
6
The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 775.083 – Fines
7
The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 828.12 – Cruelty to Animals
8
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. FAQs – Nuisance Wildlife
9
eRegulations. Florida 2025-2026 Hunting Regulations
10
Florida Senate. Florida Code 823.041 – Disposal of Bodies of Dead Animals