THE Woodland Trust – which looks after woods in Warrington, Grappenhall, Lymm – has issued an urgent plea to people not to endanger wildlife by dumping pumpkins in woodland.
The UK’s largest woodland conservation charity has spotted a worrying trend in recent years for Halloween pumpkins to be taken to the nearest wood and left, in a well-meaning but misguided attempt, to provide food for birds and woodland creatures.
Spokesman Paul Bunton said “A myth seems to have built up that leaving pumpkins in woods helps wildlife. People think they’re doing a good thing by not binning them in landfill and instead leaving them for nature.
“But pumpkin flesh can be dangerous for hedgehogs, attracts colonies of rats and also has a really detrimental effect on woodland soils, plants and fungi. We can’t leave dumped pumpkins to rot so we end up with an orange mushy mess to deal with at many of our sites.”
The Woodland Trust say Halloween leftovers can be best used by making a pumpkin birdfeeder for the garden, which should be kept high off the ground well away from hedgehogs.
Although pumpkins are not toxic to hedgehogs they can cause stomach upsets and diarrhoea as they are not designed to eat large quantities of fruit.
“This can lead to them becoming bloated and dangerously dehydrated which in turn can be fatal. At this time of year, they can’t afford to become ill, or they may not survive the winter hibernation.”
According to the Trust, which owns and cares for more than 1,000 free-to-visit woods across the UK, the pumpkin problem seems to be starting earlier and earlier, with supermarkets flooded with cheap pumpkins for sale and pumpkin-picking growing in popularity as a family activity in the run-up to Halloween.
Paul Bunton added: “Thousands of tonnes of pumpkin gets thrown away in the UK after Halloween each year, so it would be great if we could all put it to better use.”
“Jack-o-lanterns can be good for wildlife in small quantities in gardens, but not woodland or other countryside. We are urging people everywhere to make soup, make a birdfeeder for your garden, but please don’t make a mess of the countryside!”
