Wyoming Urges Secure Pumpkin Disposal to Protect Wildlife

The Wyoming Game and Fish Department asks residents to keep discarded pumpkins away from wild animals after Halloween.

Updated on Nov. 3, 2026 in Wildlife

Wyoming Urges Secure Pumpkin Disposal to Protect Wildlife

Live Poll

Will you change your holiday decorating or pumpkin disposal habits to help local wildlife?

The Wyoming Game and Fish Department is urging residents to dispose of pumpkins in secure bins rather than leaving them outdoors. Discarded pumpkins can attract predators and scavengers and may harm deer.

Why it matters

The department reports receiving many calls about sickly deer fawns at this time of year, and feeding low-nutrition foods leaves fawns more susceptible to parasites and disease. Leaving pumpkins outdoors can also violate local ordinances or wildlife-feeding laws in some areas.

Mule deer cannot properly digest pumpkins, and discarded jack-o-lanterns often contain candle wax residue. The department has not quantified how many deer fawns have been affected this season.

The players

Wyoming Game and Fish Department

The state agency responsible for managing wildlife and issuing wildlife conservation guidance across Wyoming.

Stan Harter

A wildlife biologist based in Lander, Wyoming, who spoke about the risks pumpkins pose to local wildlife.

The details

Wildlife biologist Stan Harter of Lander said pumpkins left outdoors attract raccoons, bears, and other animals. Residents are also advised to pick up hammocks, soccer nets, and tomato cages, keep pets confined or leashed, and avoid letting pets chase wildlife.

Pumpkin disposal guidance begins after Halloween.
Migrating wildlife cross roadways at dawn and dusk, so drivers should slow down during those hours.

Culture Shift

Seasonal holiday decorations and leftover food are increasingly being treated as wildlife attractants under local feeding ordinances. Wyoming's advisory extends those rules to pumpkins discarded after Halloween.

Residents should place pumpkins in secure bins rather than leaving them outdoors, and remove holiday items like hammocks and tomato cages. Drivers should slow down at dawn and dusk when wildlife crosses roads.

The takeaway

Securing pumpkins after Halloween is a simple step that protects deer fawns and other wildlife from disease and unsafe feeding. Keeping pets leashed and slowing down on roads at dawn and dusk further reduces harm to animals.