5 ways to make Halloween decorations friendlier to wildlife
You don’t need to sacrifice spookiness to keep real owls, bats and snakes safe
Halloween decorations can pose serious risks to wildlife. Slimy, yellow-striped California whipsnakes have been rescued from fake spiderwebs that twisted their bodies into a ball, risking skin damage. Hummingbirds wrapped in webbing have also met unfortunate ends. Wildlife rehabilitation centers across the nation see cases of birds, bats, snakes, rodents, deer, and other animals becoming injured or entangled in seasonal decorations.
The good news is, you can have a spooky Halloween display while safeguarding wildlife. Here are five ways to make your decorations more animal-friendly.
Synthetic spiderwebs are the most dangerous Halloween decoration for wildlife. Composed of strong, stretchy plastic with thin, hard-to-see strands, these webs can entangle animals, leading to starvation, constriction injuries, or limb dislocations. Instead, opt for solid web decorations made from rigid plastic or metal. Rope-style webs may be safer than stretchy spiderwebbing, but they can still cause entanglement risks.
If you must use stretchy or rope webbing outdoors, ensure it's pulled taut against a solid surface, such as your house, rather than hanging across an open space.
Other decorations, like rope-style webs and inflatable objects, can be safer alternatives to netting or webbing, provided their anchoring cords and power cords are secured and checked regularly for damage. Generally, choose durable decorations that can be reused year after year to minimize the environmental impact of your Halloween display.
When selecting lighting, opt for warmer colors, such as amber, orange or red, as cooler-colored lights can disrupt biological rhythms. Regardless of the type of lights used, turning them off during the night gives wildlife darkness during critical overnight hours.
Window decals, creepy figures, and glowing jack-o'-lanterns can still be visible from the street without introducing loose materials into your yard. For pumpkins, remember they're food and can be tempting to wildlife. If you want to keep wildlife from munching on your carved pumpkin, bring it inside at night or coat it with a bitter apple spray or cayenne pepper diluted with water.
When the spooky season ends, compost your pumpkins or dispose of them according to your local guidelines. Alternatively, check if a local wildlife center or animal sanctuary accepts intact, untreated pumpkins for animal feed. Lastly, when decorating with natural materials like gourds, hay, and cornstalks, choose local materials to avoid introducing invasive plants or seeds.
Written by urgent.news from Scientific American's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
