There’s been carnage in the suburbs, as Australians once again embrace a tradition of hanging plastic spider webs to celebrate Halloween. In Sydney, witnesses say a distressed kookaburra “gave up” on life after becoming entangled, while a world away in an outback town, a honeyeater was discovered hanging from a tree by a string of fluorescent orange web.
Similar products are sold cheaply at large retailers, including Coles, Woolworths, Big W and Kmart. And while some have warnings not to hang them outside, take a walk along any street where Halloween is being celebrated and you’ll likely spot them hanging from trees, shrubs and fences.
Romani was walking through the northern Sydney suburb of Wahroonga when she noticed something odd in a yard “decked out” for Halloween.
“There were fake cobwebs all the way down the long driveway. I did a double-take because I saw this thing on the ground and wasn’t sure what it was,” she told Yahoo News.
Fake spider webs, like these in Melbourne’s innner west, are increasingly being hung in yards, despite repeated warnings about the threat they pose to wildlife. Source: Michael Dahlstrom
Kookaburra ‘scared’ and ‘flapping’ after entanglement
After taking a closer look, Romani realised it was a kookaburra. But because it was lying motionless, she initially thought it was dead.
“I think it had sort of given up,” she said.
“It wasn’t moving and had its head resting on the ground. I slightly tugged on the cobwebs, and it only flew about 30 centimetres, so I could see it was completely trapped, and the fake cobwebs were around its neck.”
Rescue group WIRES confirmed it received a call about the entanglement, and its volunteers urged Romani to try and contain the bird until help arrived. Luckily, a passing student nurse was able to assist and together they worked to free the bird, removing the web that was slowly choking it.
“It was quite scared and flapping a lot,” she said, noting the bird flew away immediately after it was untangled.
A white-plumed honeyeater suffered swelling in its leg from being caught in an orange spider web. Source: Travis Cooper/WIRES
Call to ban dangerous Halloween decorations
Halloween can be controversial in Australia, because it’s a relatively new celebration here.
In the United States, it’s been a tradition since the 19th century, and so Americans carve pumpkins and hang homemade decorations. But Down Under, it’s evolved at a time when cheap single-use plastic decorations are all the rage — the type that can entangle wildlife and release microplastics into the environment as they degrade.
Romani has no problem with Halloween, but the distressing incident has prompted her to call on Aussies to reconsider using cheap decorations.
“Think about why a spider builds a web. It’s to trap things. So a human hanging them will do the same,” she said. “People just need to be a bit more creative with their Halloween.”
She’s started a petition to try and get fake webs banned in her local area. But she thinks retailers also have the responsibility to stop selling dangerous single-use decorations.
“They did it with plastic straws, they did it mostly with plastic bags — places don’t really sell them any more. Fake webs are just one of those things that need to be phased out,” she said.
More webs were seen on the streets of Sydney. Source: Courtney Greatrex
Honeyeater found hanging upside down from fake web
In Broken Hill, WIRES rescuers responded to a call for help after a white-plumed honeyeater became entangled in a web on October 19.
Stephanie Grieve from the charity’s Far West Branch said the discovery prompted many members of the community to pull down their fake webs.
“It was just horrendous. It had both legs wrapped up, and it was hanging upside down from her tree,” she told Yahoo News.
In that case, the bird had not been suffering long enough for it to lose its leg. While there was some swelling, it was ultimately deemed well enough to be released.
“We don’t want to be the fun police, we still want people to enjoy Halloween, but just be mindful of what you’re hanging outside,” she said.
“Just be mindful that we share our environment with wildlife. We should be able to keep wildlife safe while having a good time.”
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