Why ERCA is telling people not to dump their pumpkins in the woods
Officials say they can negatively affect natural areas — and wildlife who eat them
The candy supply at your house is starting to dwindle. And the jack-o-lantern on your front step has seen better days.
With Halloween in the past, the fall decor that seemed so charming over the past few weeks has now got to go. But where should you put your old pumpkins?
The Essex Region Conservation Authority (ERCA) urges you not to dump them in the woods.
Spokesperson Danielle Stuebing says it's been a growing problem the past several years in conservation and natural areas, as well as parks. However, she thinks most people doing so are well-intentioned.
"Some probably well-meaning individual started an online social media campaign that said it would be a wonderful idea to take your old pumpkins and put them in the woods somewhere for wildlife to eat," she said.
Stuebing says it's illegal to dump any sort of refuse into conservation areas — and that it's also "very, very bad for wildlife."
"It is very detrimental to the ecosystem and can really upset the ecosystem balance in many ways. It can actually make wildlife sick because they're not used to eating these sorts of things."
If the pumpkins have begun to rot, Stuebing warns "that mould can then transfer to the native species that would be in that area."
And she adds if there is even one seed left in the pumpkin that does not remain dormant, "then all of a sudden, we have a pumpkin patch in a conservation area that's intended to be a natural area."
Stuebing recommends throwing out your old pumpkins at a private farm or wildlife sanctuary that is willing to accept them — or simply put them in your composter or yard waste.
She says the towns of Essex and Kingsville run pumpkin parades, too, where you can get rid of them.