Did you know?
Hedgehogs aren’t designed to eat lots of fruit and dumped pumpkin can give them stomach upsets, leading to dehydration which can be fatal. Even if the hog survives, at this time of year any illness threatens their chance of surviving winter hibernation.
Put your Halloween pumpkin to good use
Feeding woodland wildlife with leftover Halloween pumpkins might seem helpful and eco-friendly, but it does more harm than good. Pumpkins take a long time to break down and as they rot, they damage delicate woodland ecosystems, attract rats and can be fatal to animals like hedgehogs. Please don’t leave pumpkins in our woods. Search online for other great ways to use them instead, from creative recipes to autumnal bird feeders and planters. Or just pop it on your compost heap.
Make a pumpkin bird feeder
Take the lid off your jack-o’-lantern, or if you have a fresh pumpkin, cut the top off and scoop out the insides.
Push strong sticks through so that they jut out to create perches for the birds.
Fill with bird seed and place on a bird table, or tie strings to the sticks and hang from a sturdy branch.
Keep it clean and add it to the compost heap when it starts to rot to avoid harming the birds.