As the temperatures drop and leaves start to turn, many Edmontonians are starting to get into the spooky season. For local wildlife, it can be a truly scary time. “The fall time, especially around Halloween, can always be a difficult time for our wild neighbours,” said Dale Gienow, executive director for the Northern Alberta Wildlife Rescue (WILDNorth). “That synthetic spider webbing, for example, can be really perilous for things like bats, small rodents, birds,” he added. “Creatures can get caught up and entangled in that.” The Calgary Wildlife Rehabilitation Society explains that synthetic spiderweb decorations can be invisible to wildlife at night; when an animal gets caught, the webbing can tighten around it as it struggles - leading to injuries, exhaustion or even 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.” Gienow said fall is generally a busy time for the rescue because it’s also migration time for many bird species, who are sensitive to light pollution. Because they use the stars to navigate, light from homes or Halloween displays disorient them and cause window strikes, which are estimated to kill between 16 and 24 million bird deaths in Canada each year. Calgary Wildlife says bright displays can also impact other nocturnal animals like bats, skunks and hares who work hard to avoid lights when feeding at night. It’s OK to enjoy the season and put out lights, Gienow said, but there’s ways to do it so it doesn’t pose a risk to your nocturnal neighbours. “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.” And, while you might enjoy a jump scare, most animals don’t, so Calgary Wildlife says motion animated items should be kept away from hedges or trees where they could spook unassuming animal passersby. Other ways to help out local wildlife in the fall include leaving your leaves alone. “Dead leaf litter on the ground can provide shelter for hibernating animals,” Gienow said. “Like butterflies and moths that depend on having their eggs under that leaf litter. “So leaving those leaves on the ground until late spring to clean them up next year, when they’ve had a chance to emerge, is great.” If you do want to tidy up, Gienow recommends skipping the garbage bag and raking leaves directly into your garden or under shrubs and trees where they become mulch. “We really encourage people that live in the city here to keep in mind seasonally what’s going on with our wildlife,” Gienow 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.”
