Great question. They seem to require much water, and if Mother Nature didn't provide, would they thrive?

Any experts want to comment?

There are are some wild squash that do grow unassisted in parts of the Americas. Most folks would probably not see the family resemblance to modern pumpkins however. They are more akin to ornamental gourds, which are also C. pepo. Most domesticated ( highly developed cultivated plants) cannot compete in the wild. Pumpkins will volunteer and grow in a tilled, fertile plot. But not in undisturbed ground.

In the woods where I live in Western Maine, we have wild pumpkins. They usually only get to be a couple inches in diameter, though, and they aren't all that tasty. Very fibrous. We also have wild whitish nest egg gourds, and also turban squash, which are usually a yellowish color with greenish white stripes that gets up to about 4 inches in dia, unfortunately with very littly meat on them.

Lots of wild animals eat the squash, such as bears, turkeys, deer, etc, and the seeds overwinter and germinate in the spring in the composted manure.

They definately do survive without humans, but could they survive without animals, too?

It just occurred to me. I have seen raccoon prints often around the wild nest egg gourds. Maybe they think that they are real eggs? Maybe the egg shape is an adaptation to get their seeds distributed by egg eaters?

Great question. I was wondering the same thing because i live in a new developing suburb and there are still lots of plots without any construction being done on them yet. Everytime i go for a walk, i keep telling myself to bring some seeds and just throw them there and see what happens. I suppose the field mice would have a feast though.

this plant is growing in my yard seemingly wild, as I do not recall ever planting this. Could you identify this one?

Awesome. Thanks so much. It has been growing wild in our yard for a decade. Is there anything else you can tell me about it?