Do NOT Throw Your Old Halloween Pumpkins In The Woods! Here’s Why

With all of us in the middle of pumpkin season, many are wondering what we should do with our crusty, sunken, and rotten pumpkins once we are done with them.

You would think that with all the wooded areas in the Hudson Valley, we could just grab our used pumpkins once we're done with them and throw them away in the woods for animals to feast on. It is something we recommend doing, and it's awesome that you're thinking of doing something good for the animals in our area, but you can't just throw them in the woods, there's an important step you need to take before you discard them.

If your pumpkin looks like this....

Please don't just throw it in the woods.

According to many wildlife experts if you plan to donate your old pumpkin to Hudson Valley wildlife, make sure that you smash the pumpkin open before you throw it into the woods for animals to eat. If you just throw it in the woods without smashing it open deer and other bigger animals can get their heads stuck inside and that's no good.

Make it look like this...

As far as pumpkins being good or bad for animals, many experts say that pumpkin is safe for most animals and the pumpkin seeds can act as a natural dewormer for them. Once you're finished with your pumpkin this year instead of just throwing it away in the trash, let's all recycle them so that they don't wind up in landfills. Pumpkins in landfills are a bad thing because they create methane gases that can and will harm the environment.

If you are not sure where or how to recycle them, you might want to ask one of our many local Hudson Valley farmers if they would like the pumpkins as a treat for their cows or pigs on the farm.