Be Careful About Tossing Old Pumpkins Out for Wildlife to Eat, Officials Warn

Happy Halloween! 

That is, unless you’re an unsuspecting creature in the woods looking for something tasty to eat. If that’s the case, things can get downright frightening around this time of year as people toss their old Halloween pumpkins and other squash into nature once the holiday is over. 

In fact, the risks are so chilling that Forestry England, part of England’s Forestry Commission, is warning people against throwing out their old Jack O’Lanterns for wildlife to eat, as this practice can actually pose threats to animals.

In recent years, there has been viral advice online to chuck old pumpkins used as Halloween and fall decor into backyards and forests for animals. But tossing painted and bedazzled pumpkins or pumpkins with decor in or on them can be deadly for wildlife.

“Pumpkins are also often decorated and have things such as candles in them. Animals eating the pumpkins could then eat a foreign object and this could kill them,” Kate Wollen, assistant ecologist at Forestry England shared in a statement.

But even plain or simply cut pumpkins can cause problems for wildlife, from creating more dependence on humans that could lead to human-wildlife conflict to spreading diseases. In some places, pumpkins are not native and are not a proper food source for local animals, officials warned.

“Pumpkins are not natural to the woodland and while some wildlife may enjoy a tasty snack it can make others, such as hedgehogs, [react] very poorly,” Wollen said. “Feeding pumpkins, or any other food in the forest, to birds, foxes, badgers, deer, and boar can make them unwell and can spread disease.”

Additionally, tossing whole pumpkins into areas where they don’t naturally grow could lead the seeds to spread in that area, allowing non-native pumpkins to begin growing in the area and diverting resources from native plants.

As Plant Based News reported, people in the UK alone buy 12.8 million pumpkins for Halloween each year, and according to Love Food Hate Waste, 67% of UK households throw away at least one pumpkin. 

The situation is just as scary overseas. According to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, the majority of the 1 billion pumpkins produced in the U.S. each year are thrown away.

Rather than throwing pumpkins into the trash can, where they will rot and produce greenhouse gas emissions in a landfill, or outside for wildlife, there are other ways that officials recommend repurposing your squash.

As Wollen explained, pumpkins “are 90% water so are a great composting material, adding a great source of nitrogen and moisture to my compost bin each year.” You can add your old pumpkins to the compost pile, so your winter and spring gardens have plenty of nutrients to grow other produce.

Forestry England also recommends donating pumpkins to local organizations such as zoos, animal shelters, animal sanctuaries, farms or community gardens that could use pumpkins for compost or safe animal food.