Some Halloween decorations can be harmful to wildlife, N.B. bird experts say

Spooky season is here. And while it might be tempting to celebrate with fake spider webs, lights and carved pumpkins, experts say some of those decorations are more frightening to wildlife than you may think. 

Kelsey Butler, director of Atlantic and Quebec with Birds Canada, said the most dangerous decorations in her opinion are fake spider webs, usually made with cotton. 

"Outside, it can be really harmful to birds, because when they fly through it they could get tangled or trapped," she said. "Anything with strings, or that cotton spider web material, would be really good to avoid."

Butler said fake spider webs don't come apart as easily as real ones, so they can cause problems when birds big or small come into contact with them. 

Birder Alain Clavette said these webs are often coated with an adhesive, making them easy to stick on houses or on outdoor displays.

"It's made to stick to everything, so when birds are foraging — and might not even be going for the web — they can still have a problem with it." 

Birds already encounter barriers like cars, buildings with windows, power lines and light pollution, Clavette said, and using these decorations just adds more obstacles for them.

He said the issue isn't limited to Halloween either, but it exists during most holiday seasons. 

Clavette said he once found a dead robin in a Christmas wreath. 

"It had garlands and there were all kinds of little red berries that were fake in that setup and I think that's what attracted, unfortunately, that robin," he said. 

The bird was tangled in the display, and Clavette said he believes it "probably struggled for a while." 

Anything that looks like a source of food or nesting material can be deadly, he said. 

"We have to be very careful about what we put out in nature," said Clavette. "It's their home as much as it is ours."

Butler said balloons are also a concern, as fall edges into winter and resources become less plentiful for wildlife. Birds will look for anything that resembles food, including deflated balloons. 

"Birds can get tangled in the string, but can also mistake the balloon itself for food if it deflates," Butler said. "It's a choking hazard like it would be for a child."  

She also said to avoid using alcohol or bleach to preserve pumpkins as Halloween decor. 

"I think bleach is most common and it's really toxic for any wildlife, including birds," she said. 

Butler recommends using vinegar as a way to preserve decorative pumpkins so that they won't be harmful if eaten, she said. 

An animal would be less likely to eat a pumpkin that was freshly coated in bleach, she said, but as the pumpkin sits out and the smell wears off, the chances it's eaten grow. 

Clavette said painting pumpkins or coating them in a toxic substance is wasteful. 

"Why not leave the pumpkins without paint, because then you can use them as food for donkeys or chickens or wild birds, pheasants — they will all come to these pumpkins," he said. 

Decorative lighting can also attract birds to homes and windows, and can disrupt their flying patterns, said Butler.  

Lights are only a real concern at night, so setting a timer to ensure lights turn off automatically would solve the problem. 

She said using warmer lighting or red lighting is also a safer alternative.