5 Ways to Keep Wildlife Safe When Decorating for Halloween

These tips will help you create a festive outdoor space for Halloween while keeping animals safe.

Decorating yards with pumpkins, lights, and seasonal displays is a beloved fall tradition. But whether you’re creating a cozy autumn atmosphere or a spooky Halloween scene, some decorations can be harmful to wildlife. Here are five tips for decorating your yard this fall to make it both safe and welcoming for wildlife.

1. Avoid Fake Spider Webs

While fake spider webs add an eerie feel to your fall decor, they can be a real nightmare for wildlife. Their strong, synthetic strands can trap birds, bats, small mammals, bees, and butterflies. Once entangled, these creatures will struggle to free themselves and, unless someone rescues them, they often die from exhaustion, starvation, or injury. And finding a cardinal, chipmunk, or butterfly tangled in a fake web in your yard is certainly not the festive scene you were striving for.

Fake spider webs are especially dangerous in the fall because it’s when many bird species migrate. Birds that land in bushes or trees decorated with fake webs may find themselves ensnared. And the webs don’t just affect small birds like hummingbirds and songbirds—there have been reports of large birds, like owls, becoming entangled as well.

To avoid these perils, skip fake spider webs when decorating outdoors. If you love the spooky look, consider keeping them indoors, such as for the insides of windows, where wildlife won’t come into contact with them.

2. Don’t Paint or Bleach Outdoor Pumpkins

Pumpkins are a fall decor staple that wildlife like squirrels, raccoons, and deer love to munch on.  However, if they’re covered in chemicals, pumpkins can harm these creatures. 

While painted pumpkins may look stunning, the paint can be toxic to wildlife. Further, while dunking pumpkins in bleach and spraying pumpkins with hair spray are common tricks for keeping pumpkins fresh and preventing mold, these chemicals aren’t good for wildlife either.

This fall, stick to using untreated pumpkins for outdoor displays. If you want to paint your pumpkins, keep them indoors and away from hungry critters. To preserve carved pumpkins outdoors, try soaking them in a vinegar solution, which can extend their life while still being safe for wildlife.

Related: Do Deer Eat Mums? 6 Tips for Protecting Your Fall Flowers from Damage

3. Avoid Plastic Decorations

Plastic decorations are appealing because they are often fun-looking, lightweight, and inexpensive. However, most are also hollow, which can lead to trapped animals. Deer, raccoons, and other wildlife are naturally curious and may stick their heads or paws into hollow, plastic decor and not be able to get them out again.

For example, each year there are reports of deer getting their heads stuck in plastic pumpkin buckets left outside. If the handles get wedged at the top of their head or behind their ears, the deer can’t remove the bucket on their own, which leaves them at risk for injury or even starvation if they don’t receive help from humans.  

To prevent this, avoid placing plastic decorations with narrow openings outside. Stick to solid decorations since they are much safer for wildlife. If you do want to use hollow pumpkins, skeletons, or similar items, keep them in areas where wildlife cannot reach them or indoors, such as displayed by a window.

4. Set Decorative Lights on a Timer

While bright lights are great for showcasing your fall decorations, they can also confuse nocturnal animals like owls, moths, and bats and disrupt their hunting and navigation. Upward-facing floodlights, which are often used to illuminate Halloween displays, can also disorient migrating birds, many of which travel at night using the stars to guide them on their journeys. Bright lights from your yard can throw them off course or cause them to collide with buildings. 

If you use lights outdoors to accent your holiday decor, use low-intensity, warm lighting, which is less disruptive to wildlife. Additionally, set your lights on timers to turn off between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m., which coincides with the peak activity times for migrating birds. This way, you can still enjoy your illuminated decorations while minimizing harm to wildlife.

Related: The 10 Best Outdoor String Lights of 2024 to Add Ambiance to Your Outdoor Space

5. Use Natural Materials

Swap artificial decorations for natural ones like fallen leaves, corn stalks, straw bales, branches, pinecones, and gourds. These elements can easily be found in your backyard, local garden centers, or farmer’s markets. They not only add a rustic, homey feel to your yard but they can even provide food, shelter, and nesting materials for your beloved backyard wildlife.

Unlike plastic decor, these natural materials will also break down over time, enriching your soil and reducing waste. By using natural materials in your displays, you can have displays that are not only eye-catching but also eco-friendly and that support wildlife throughout the entire fall season.

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