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Who's Living in Your Leaf Pile?

Posted on October 18, 2024

By now, you’ve likely heard the phrase, “Leave the leaves!”
While we love this slogan—it’s catchy and self-explanatory—it’s also easy to immediately write off. Leaving all the leaves right where they are might feel extreme and even overwhelming.

We imagine people hearing it for the first time feel sort of like this-

And you know what? We get it! It can be really hard to find the balance between keeping the neighborhood peace and taking precautions to protect wildlife.

Luckily, there’s a secret loophole: It doesn’t have to be all or nothing!
You don’t have to avoid touching the leaves altogether OR completely mulch your entire yard…you can find a compromise somewhere in between.

Instead of raking the leaves and burning them, mulching them, or bagging them, consider moving them to a less visible area of your yard, under the bases of trees, or into garden beds. That way, any critters trying to snooze inside will make it until spring.

Speaking of critters…who's lazing in those leaves?

Luna moths overwinter in cocoons hidden under the leaf litter. These striking moths might be easy to spot once they emerge, but their cocoons are not: Luna moths disguise their cocoons by wrapping them in dried leaves, which helps them avoid detection. While this is a useful tactic to ward off predators, it’s no match for eager humans wielding lawnmowers.


Swallowtail caterpillars attach their chrysalises to dead stems and other plant material in the fall. Like luna moths, these swallowtail butterflies are beautiful and hard to miss…however, their chrysalises look a lot like dried leaves dangling from a branch. To protect swallowtails, avoid cutting dead stems back until spring.


Fireflies… lightning bugs…whatever you call them, these beloved flying lightshows spend their larval stage in the leaf litter, under logs, or underground, insulated by the warm, moist blanket of leaf litter. If you want more fireflies in your yard next summer, leave the leaves!


Mourning cloaks are one of the first species to emerge after an ice cold winter, often on sunny days in late winter or in very early spring. As one of the first signs of life, they should be protected at all costs! Mourning cloaks overwinter as adults in the small crevices of tree bark, logs, and even in the leaf litter itself. In addition to leaving the leaves, you can support their peaceful slumber by creating small brush piles in your backyard.


These cutie pies are a common sight in fall and are famous for “predicting” the severity of the upcoming winter. They’re not actually psychic, but they are resilient. Woolly bears overwinter as caterpillars under logs or in the leaf litter and can withstand temperatures as low as -90 degrees Fahrenheit. When the weather warms, they feed briefly before spinning cocoons and pupating. Come late spring/early summer, they emerge as adult Isabella tiger moths.


Help protect these creatures by keeping at least a portion of your yard wild this winter. Remember, it’s not all or nothing!