By james art CHEYENNE — The Wyoming Game and Fish Department is asking residents to properly dispose of pumpkins instead of leaving them for wildlife to eat.
It may seem harmless to exclude pumpkins, but it is quite the opposite, especially for deer, whose digestive systems cannot process unnatural foods. This often results in sick animals. Pumpkins left outside can also attract scavenging animals from raccoons to bears.
“This time of year, the department gets a lot of calls about sick fawns, and a lot of that can be attributed to those deer eating low-nutrition foods and having a hard time digesting the unnatural food. This makes them susceptible to parasites and other diseases,” said Breanna Ball, Game and Fish public information officer.
Many places in Wyoming have feeding ordinances that make the intentional feeding of wildlife by private citizens illegal. Please check with your city or county for more information.
Here are some other things you can do to help wildlife this time of year:
- Grab your hammocks, soccer nets and tomato cages and consider putting holiday lights out of reach.
- Keep your pets confined and/or on a leash and do not allow pets to chase wildlife. Keep your distance and give wildlife plenty of space.
- Reduce speed on migratory wildlife roads, especially at dawn and dusk. Plan extra time into your travels.
- If you have fences, make them wildlife-friendly and open gates where possible to facilitate wildlife movement.