Fireworks

[LadyG]

Please do not buy fireworks which explode. All pets are terrified, and let's face it, Nature has far more spectacular displays.

[Arthur Marshall]

Is this really true? I don't remember any of my dogs ever being bothered , and the cats currently prowling round my garden don't seem worried in the slightest by the current barrage (which is fairly extreme). The local cows and sheep aren't bothered, so why on earth should dogs and cats be? I've not noticed the squirrels falling out of the trees in terror, either.

I do wonder if this isn't their owners getting in a tither about it and transmitting this to their animals, or if it's simply that pets are treated as people's child-substitutes and infantalised (if I read another post about somebody's fur-baby I think I'll throw up) and it's forgotten they're just animals?

[LadyG]

8 minutes ago, Arthur Marshall said:

Is this really true? I don't remember any of my dogs ever being bothered , and the cats currently prowling round my garden don't seem worried in the slightest by the current barrage (which is fairly extreme). The local cows and sheep aren't bothered, so why on earth should dogs and cats be? I've not noticed the squirrels falling out of the trees in terror, either.

I do wonder if this isn't their owners getting in a tither about it and transmitting this to their animals, or if it's simply that pets are treated as people's child-substitutes and infantalised (if I read another post about somebody's fur-baby I think I'll throw up) and it's forgotten they're just animals?

My cat is terrified even though he is generally very bold and active. He has kept inside for the last  hours of darkness, but normally comes and goes 

I once had a gundog bred Lab, and she was gun-shy, having encountered a 12 bore only a few feet away. 

I dont consider my animals to be child substitutes, I just preferr animals to people.

I've seen animals who admire the display from afar.

Cows are pretty stupid in many ways, and live on farms.

 

Edited November 1 by LadyG

[GUMPY]

No point in having fireworks if they don't go bang.

[matty40s]

Just trying to work out how a firework would NOT explode unless you bought it for £1.99 from B&M Bargains or similar.....

[GUMPY]

Maybe we could get silent fireworks like you get silent disco.😱

 

[b00ke23]

Where I grew up it was like the battle of the Somme every evening at this time of year, such was the quantity of fireworks set off. Pet owners would have been laughed out of town with such a request.....how times have changed! 

[mrsmelly]

Our present Dog does not give a damn although have not heard any at all yet and last year heard non on bonfire night. However we owned one dog a few years ago that was absolutely terrified of noisy fireworks, I hate them too, bloody nuisance. There will be plenty of people moaning about the cost of living at the moment who find several pounds available to set fire to.

[MtB]

1 hour ago, LadyG said:

Please do not buy fireworks which explode. All pets are terrified, and let's face it, Nature has far more spectacular displays.

 

Examples please. Ideally routinely seen here in Wiltshire. 

 

Much obliged!

[smiler]

It's one advantage of living on a boat. If fireworks are such a problem, there's nothing stopping one mooring up in the middle of nowhere for a week.🤔

[b00ke23]

9 minutes ago, MtB said:

 

Examples please. Ideally routinely seen here in Wiltshire. 

 

Much obliged!

 

Chucking out time in Swindon Town centre on a Saturday night? 

[beerbeerbeerbeerbeer]

7 minutes ago, b00ke23 said:

 

Chucking out time in Swindon Town centre on a Saturday night? 

don’t forget crop circles, UFO’s and aliens 👍

 

 

 

 

[Guyon]

10 hours ago, Arthur Marshall said:

Is this really true? I don't remember any of my dogs ever being bothered , and the cats currently prowling round my garden don't seem worried in the slightest by the current barrage (which is fairly extreme). The local cows and sheep aren't bothered, so why on earth should dogs and cats be? I've not noticed the squirrels falling out of the trees in terror, either.

I do wonder if this isn't their owners getting in a tither about it and transmitting this to their animals, or if it's simply that pets are treated as people's child-substitutes and infantalised (if I read another post about somebody's fur-baby I think I'll throw up) and it's forgotten they're just animals?

We have a 5 year old rescue dog and she is generally pretty robust. We try to make any new experience exciting for her. Last night we had a firework display next to the marina and sat on the boat with Mazzy. We had music on the mask the noise and kept playing with her to distract from the noise. Yet, within 5 minutes she was shaking like a leaf and didn’t fully settle for the rest of the night. She was panting and just curled up in her corner. She is not a fur baby or anything like, she is a dog who has to be strong and face the world. But this was not something she could handle. 

Wild animals are scared of fireworks and birds do abandon nests through stress. Some are more resilient than others, but a high percentage are scared. I have the opinion that scaring half the animals in the area for entertainment is not worth it and is in fact selfish.
But your last line about them just being animals, strongly suggests we hold different values anyway. 
 

[Guyon]

9 hours ago, MtB said:

 

Examples please. Ideally routinely seen here in Wiltshire. 

 

Much obliged!

Autumn in Stourhead? Pretty spectacular. 

[Mike Tee]

Dogs hearing is certainly more sensitive than humans so it may not be pleasant for them with loud, sometimes mortar like concussions, going off.

We've had quite a few dogs, most weren't bothered, but the last one would not go outside if fireworks were going off - she would sit next to me and be quite relaxed, but would not go out. Must have had a stainless holding tank.

[GUMPY]

35 minutes ago, Guyon said:

Autumn in Stourhead? Pretty spectacular. 

It might be wonderful  but Stourhead is not nature it was built/planted by man.

[Chris John]

There are such things as silent firework displays. 
Personal I think fireworks shouldn’t be available for the public to buy and only organised events should be held. After all when else would the public be allowed to buy explosives on the high street 

[dogless]

It's quite sad that old folks get miserable and grumpy and lose sight of the childlike delight and wonder of things.

 

Every year there has been, and will be a flurry of fireworks at a number of points on the calendar ... there's many more days of the year firework free and to be honest even on the days when fireworks are heard, its generally only for a couple of hours.

 

I've never liked fireworks since a childhood accident to a friend about sixty years ago, but from a (good long 😊) distance the kaleidoscopic patterns in the sky are stunning.

 

All things must pass.

 

Rog

[Wafi]

1 hour ago, Guyon said:

birds do abandon nests through stress

In November?

[ditchcrawler]

1 hour ago, Mike Tee said:

Dogs hearing is certainly more sensitive than humans so it may not be pleasant for them with loud, sometimes mortar like concussions, going off.

We've had quite a few dogs, most weren't bothered, but the last one would not go outside if fireworks were going off - she would sit next to me and be quite relaxed, but would not go out. Must have had a stainless holding tank.

Even on TV effected mine, that is how I realised the last dog was going deaf, he ignored the fireworks on TV

48 minutes ago, Wafi said:

In November?

Global warming

[MtB]

1 hour ago, dogless said:

Every year there has been, and will be a flurry of fireworks at a number of points on the calendar ... there's many more days of the year firework free and to be honest even on the days when fireworks are heard, its generally only for a couple of hours.

 

 

I think 10 or 20 years ago it was much worse. I remember getting totally chuffed off with the fireworks going off for hours on end every evening for weeks ahead of Guy Fawkes Night when I lived in Reading.

 

This year it is 2nd November alreasy and I've yet to see or hear a premature firework being set orf. 

 

On the other hand it might have something to do with me moving from Reading to rural Wiltshire, haha! 

[Tonka]

14 hours ago, LadyG said:

Please do not buy fireworks which explode. All pets are terrified, and let's face it, Nature has far more spectacular displays.

Can I ask why are you moaning now when people are celebrating bonfire night but didn't when people were celebrating Divali

[haggis]

I don't think fireworks were so loud and  colourful many years ago..While the ones which fly high and give a lovely colourful display are lovely to watch the very loud bangs which now seem to be the " in thing " are not so pleasant.

[Alan de Enfield]

3 minutes ago, Tonka said:

Can I ask why are you moaning now when people are celebrating bonfire night but didn't when people were celebrating Divali

 

Because you cannot complain  about them - it is racial / religious discrimination !

[ditchcrawler]

1 hour ago, MtB said:

 

 

I think 10 or 20 years ago it was much worse. I remember getting totally chuffed off with the fireworks going off for hours on end every evening for weeks ahead of Guy Fawkes Night when I lived in Reading.

 

This year it is 2nd November alreasy and I've yet to see or hear a premature firework being set orf. 

 

On the other hand it might have something to do with me moving from Reading to rural Wiltshire, haha! 

The penny bangers made a bigger bang when I was a kid