Bloody Fireworks

[finchbreeder]

Fortunately the fireworks round here are usually put on by the council, at any excuse. And usually far enough away not to bother the birds, just the dog. When i was a kid we had fireworks once or maybe twice a year and they were wonderfull because they were a novelty. Now there is fireworkds for practically anything and kids find them boring much younger than they used too because of the saturation factor. So fireworks yes, but less often please.
LML

[Tiaris]

We used to let ours off in our own backyard which had finch aviaries all along the back fence. No catastrophic results to birds or people. It was done with parental supervision, neighbourhood co-operation (and participation) and common sense. Just good fun to all involved. I've never heard of a bushfire started by wayward fireworks just the odd foreign fireworks factory going up in spectacular fashion on tv news occasionally.

[arthur]

And there were "Sand-crackers"

Little thin paper bags containing small grains of gravel which must have had a chemical mix. They would make a loud(?) bang if thrown onto a hard surface.

A bit tame and not overly popular . .



The things you forget

[Myzomela]

Tom, night lights may help the birds find their roosts ( or nests) again after the commotion has settled down.

[Tiaris]

And there were "Sand-crackers"

Little thin paper bags containing small grains of gravel which must have had a chemical mix. They would make a loud(?) bang if thrown onto a hard surface.

A bit tame and not overly popular . .



The things you forget

Throwdowns - good for mock war play on bitumen/concrete.

[arthur]

Getting way off topic now . . but I'm good at that

Kid in my class brought a couple of 'sandies' to school, and while the chalkie was facing the blackboard, he threw one onto the floor wih great effect

Wasn't hard to work out who it was, and the culprit was sent to the Head-Teacher

A short time later there was a second 'bang' from the direction of HT's office . .

Now HT's in those days were not to be messed with, and the teacher mumbled something about 'serious trouble'

It turned out that our hero, by way of explanation, said that the cracker had accidentally fallen from his pocket and gone off

The boss, not surprisingly, didn't believe the tale and told the offender to drop another from pocket height; if it went off he would get one cut for bringing crackers to school, if it didn't he would get six cuts for bringing crackers, exploding same, disrupting class, and telling lies

Well blow me down . . that was the second bang

Anybody experienced with sandcrackers would know that often they didn't work even when flung with force against a cement wall . .


That kid had somebody on his side that day

[TomDeGraaff]

I think they are what I called "throw-downs", Arthur. I suppose Victoria is becoming a bit of a Nanny state but I still think it's puerile and dangerous plus bad for birds of all sorts. I wouldn't like to be a pheasant breeder. They usually have open-top aviaries, don't they? Pheasants skyrocket themselves if scared. So do doves and pigeons.

A guy got killed two years ago with a head injury. His own fault but sad. Anyway, off my hobby horse.

I was thinking, Myzo, that a night light is effective. Having lost many birds as a kid in Ballarat on "cracker night", I have been a bit paranoid.
The roof buffers the birds from the lights but the sounds will always disturb and unless there is light enough to find their way, I don't think our birds would find safe perches or their nest/eggs/young. Insulation might mitigate against sound as well as heat I suppose.

There used to be a school of thought that thunder and fireworks caused dead in shell. I think we all realise now that it is true... as an indirect result of eggs going cold due to those sounds!!

Cheers
Tom

PS If you have a dog in the backyard with your aviary, I would take extra care with the pooch on high-risk nights. Besides being spooked themselves, they might accidentally scare the birds. Our boxer used to come inside - bloody lap dogs!!

[vettepilot_6]

We used to let ours off in our own backyard which had finch aviaries all along the back fence. No catastrophic results to birds or people. It was done with parental supervision, neighbourhood co-operation (and participation) and common sense. Just good fun to all involved. I've never heard of a bushfire started by wayward fireworks just the odd foreign fireworks factory going up in spectacular fashion on tv news occasionally.

Yep we used to do same thing...too many things now have been taken away by government for the worse I think.... the odd injury was usually your own silly fault..(too short a wick on a tuppenny bunger lol) and as you say we soon found the wowsers letterboxes....or shoot sky rockets right above their house for even louder bangs... and I never lost a finch or quail on those nights.... You can still have cracker night in Northern Territory... they go on sale 2 weeks before the big day