Many individuals will have unwanted pumpkins leftover with Halloween now over and the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) is offering ways to dispose of the giant orange gourds.
The non-profit organization is urging jack-o'-lantern owners to use environmentally friendly routes instead of just dumping them in uninhabited areas.
"Well, it may sound like a green idea to just throw it into the woods, but you may unintentionally make wildlife sick, in addition to resulting in other people choosing to just dump debris there," NCC's Spokesperson Andrew Holland said.
Pumpkins can attract all kinds of wildlife (deer, moose, elk, raccoons, and squirrels) if left in uninhabited areas as they're attracted to it as a food source.
"It can put them at greater risk of transmitting disease and if the site is close to the road, it can increase the risk of being struck by vehicles which can also injure us as motorists," he said.
The best way to dispose of the Halloween art according to Holland is by composting them at home or using municipality composting services. Another avenue is offering them to farmers and producers for their livestock.
"See if they'd like to take the pumpkins for animal food or enrichment to food," he said.