Whether you have already started decorating for Fall and Halloween or have yet gathered all the boxes, remember that whatever decorations you use can affect the great outdoors too, especially wildlife. But don’t worry, there are still plenty of items you can use to decorate that will still be friendly to our furry creatures!
Pumpkins
Do you love having pumpkins out on your front stoop or lawn? You may start early, having many batches of them starting in September through to Halloween. There has been a hack going around that to help preserve the “shelf” life of a pumpkin, you can bleach the exterior. Although in theory this sounds like a great idea and can help make your pumpkins last even longer, it can hurt any wild creatures that are in your yard.
Backyard Buffet
Many furry friends will help themselves to whatever is outside, and that includes any decorations you may put out, especially food. Deer and squirrels are especially astute on picking and eating pumpkins, so that bleach on the exterior can do serious harm. An easy solution though, is to just leave your pumpkins as is! It may require buying more to keep the Fall colors and vibe going, but it’s well worth it to help out our furry neighbors.
Fake Webbing
Another go-to decoration is the fake webbing – the stringy, cotton candy-like fabric we use on our houses to help accentuate the big, spooky spiders we put out in the yard. But this webbing can seem like food to some creatures, which is not good to ingest. What poses a bigger threat to wildlife is that birds will accidentally fly into it, and get stuck. They may not see the batting at all or simply think they can fly through it, but get caught instead. And if you don’t notice it right away, this can have dire circumstances for our feathered friends. Instead of using the fake webbing, you can always get lights in the shape of spiderwebs. Many stores now carry a drape of lights that you can attach high up on your home and they cascade down into the lawn to look like webs, and they come in a variety of colors.
Being kind to our furry neighbors this spooky season can be super easy!
Katie Kyzivat