Fireworks and Freedom

It's been a busy few weeks. I have managed to make my own blogger account so now I don't have to sneak into my human's. So the credits at the bottom should change starting now. And it's the 4th of July. Freedom from her. Yay! Ok, freedom to write under my own name. I have actually grown quite fond of her despite her eccentricities and weirdness.

The 4th of July doesn't mean much to me but coming up on today all kinds of firecrackers have been lighting up the evening sky. Now that don't bother me too much but the noise is annoying and can be a bit startling. Even uncomfortably so. What are these humans thinking being this noisy and disruptive? Aren't there noise ordnances that are being violated here? The worst of it is that some animals and birds have a hard time of it. I'm sure, birds and mammals in the sky (yes, I know about bats) get hurt as they fly by. Why would they fly after dark you ask. Well, fireworks usually start around twilight and so some birds might still be out and anyway, the noise keeps them from sleeping and may startle them into taking flight and then fly into a fire cracker or be hurt by ember showers. Even after dark, it could keep birds from settling down for sleep. And while I am not averse to hunting down a bird or two now and again, it is not the same thing to be so indiscriminately inconsiderate of other species. I have heard that many dogs and cats and outside animals get scared of loud booms following the strange lights in the sky. Haven't you seen pets who are scared of thunderstorms? What's more, fireworks contaminate groundwater and this affects the health of all water drinkers.

I hear from my human that in India it is even worse than here in Divali season when every household gets to light up their own firecrackers. It is a cacophony of noise and light. Every year even humans get hurt and burn. So, even though, I haven't heard about the figures for non-human damages, they have to be even higher than those for humans. Tsk tsk.

Humans cannot control thunderstorms though I hear they are trying. But they can control fireworks and I wish they would eliminate all sound and harm to animals if they would like to continue this tradition of celebrating a day with pretty lights. I don't know what all these people are celebrating with these fireworks anyway but I plan to stay in and try to snooze. If you plan to go out and watch the lights, give some thought- when you can- to how it affects other non-human residents of earth.