remember, remember - the 5th of November....and the 4th of July.....and the 31st Dec........

Remember that animals dislike fireworks and find them frightening. Follow these sensible guidelines:

• Keep all pets inside the house once the sun starts to set, some people set off fireworks before nightfall.
• Cover aviaries, rabbit hutches etc. so that should the very loud noises disturb the animals, they do at least have a natural-like habitat, where they are able to hide.
• Feed and exercise your animals well during the day, this will lead to a calmer animal once the noise starts.
  If your cat/dog runs for its bed, a cupboard or under the bed, leave it there and allow it to follow its natural instinct which is to hide in a den or cave.
• Do not try to acclimatise your cat/dog by insisting it faces the noise, they may never get used to the noise and you may be causing damage.
• Allow the cat/dog comforts within the den, give it its blanket, some water and a toy to make it feel comfortable.
• Suprisingly your cat/dog may jump into the bath! This shows its instinct to run into holes when danger is present.
• You may find that your cat/dog starts to dig, this is following the same hiding instinct.
• If your cat/dog shows any tendency to hide, let it.
• If you are building a bonfire don't forget to check it for hedgehogs just before you light it, they hibernate this time of year in stacks of wood. Look for them, don't just prod the bonfire as they will be in torpor (a deep hibernating sleep which takes them a long time to wake from).
• Keep windows and curtains firmly shut - which helps 'distance' the pet from the kerfuffle.

Here in England, the fireworks start going off about now - and then pretty much straight through until New Year. Guess people are firing off stocks through November and December.
The sound of private fireworks parties make our little estate sound like the Somme :-(
As someone born on the 4th November fireworks have always featured around my birthday celebrations - but I'm not actually that keen on them.......

cq