CTV News Edmonton has reported:

Halloween decorations can injure or kill local wildlife, and an Edmonton rescue is urging residents to take steps to reduce the risks during the fall season. Dale Gienow, executive director of the Northern Alberta Wildlife Rescue, known as WILDNorth, said synthetic spiderwebs can trap bats, small rodents and birds. “The fall time, especially around Halloween, can always be a difficult time for our wild neighbours,” he said.

Gienow said animals can become entangled in the webbing. The Calgary Wildlife Rehabilitation Society says synthetic spiderweb decorations may be invisible to wildlife at night, and can tighten around an animal as it struggles, causing injuries, exhaustion or death. “Every year, WILDNorth sees several of these cases where we’re sort of forced to intervene and take them into our care,” Gienow said. “So, those kinds of decorations are better suited, really, for indoors.”

Fall is a busy period for WILDNorth because many bird species are migrating, Gienow said. Birds use stars to navigate, and light pollution from homes and Halloween displays can disorient them and lead to collisions with windows. Window strikes are estimated to kill between 16 and 24 million birds in Canada each year.

Bright displays can also affect nocturnal animals, Calgary Wildlife says. Bats, skunks and hares work to avoid lights while feeding at night. Gienow said people can still put up seasonal lights if they choose them carefully. “Make sure they’re dim lights and they’re on some kind of timer,” he said. “[When] you’re no longer out there to enjoy them, they shut off during the night, and you can enjoy them the next evening.”

Animated decorations that move can startle animals passing by, according to Calgary Wildlife. The society recommends keeping them away from hedges or trees, where wildlife may be nearby. That advice is aimed at reducing the chance that a sudden movement will frighten an animal using those areas.

Gienow also encouraged residents to leave fallen leaves on the ground through winter. Leaf litter can shelter animals preparing to hibernate, including butterflies and moths whose eggs depend on the cover. “Dead leaf litter on the ground can provide shelter for hibernating animals,” he said. “Like butterflies and moths that depend on having their eggs under that leaf litter.”

He recommended waiting until late spring to clean up leaves, after animals have had time to emerge. Residents who want to tidy their yards can rake leaves into gardens or place them under shrubs and trees, where they can become mulch, rather than bagging them for disposal.

Gienow said people in the city should consider seasonal effects on wildlife and remove decorations that pose risks. “We really encourage people that live in the city here to keep in mind seasonally what’s going on with our wildlife,” he said. “Really be conscious. “Turn those lights off, keep some of that leaf litter on the ground for them, put away your Halloween decorations, at least the ones that are going to impact the animals negatively, and let’s all take care of our wildlife together.”