[plumseverywhere]

one of our very close neighbours who's garden joins onto our land has just decided to launch several hundreds of pounds worth of loud fireworks...into our paddocks.  No knock on the door to warn us so no chance to move stock into another field etc.  7 petrified lambs running around screaming, 2 goats going mad in their shed and no idea where my cat is. For some daft reason I thought 5th november was yesterday 
Rounded the sheep up with a torch, hubby has shouted over to him to keep his fireworks on his own land and I shouted over that he didn't have any lanterns, DID HE?! to which he said no. he's stopped now but my friend who grazes her ponies in the field next to ours has driven over to stand with them.
Surely its common courtesy a)to prewarn neighbours who you know own livestock of your intentions to let off loud fireworks on a different day to the 5th and b)not to aim them straight onto grazed land?! tomorrow will be spent picking up burnt out firework stubs (which I shall tip into his garden grrr)

[ambriel]

What an arse! Some people are so thoughtless.

You should insist he comes round in the morning and collects his own litter.

[plumseverywhere]

Thanks Ambriel, I was worried I was over reacting.  Tony's going round to knock on his door tomorrow to ask what he was playing at (I might suggest he change that wording!!) perhaps he could come over and collect the stubbs then. I'm going to have to do it early though before the goats chomp them (unlikely the sheep will I'm assuming?)

[manian]

we've had a similar problem here too Plumbs   
just picked up 3 rockets from near my polytunnel...... they will have a big bill should i find any holes
Mx

[plumseverywhere]

Where do we stand should say, an animal have panicked and become lame or damage to a shed, polytunnel etc? I suppose its a case of proving who caused the damage?

[manian]

that is a dilema........ although if they did damage to stock/my polytunnel and not compensate...... my OH would ensure repayment, hes not very tollerant, that was before we caught them stealing!!!!
mx

[little blue]

We too were fuming yesterday when our idiot neighbour was letting off fireworks at the top of his drive - his is at 90 degrees to ours.  And the goats & hens are on that side. 
He's not going to let them go over his garden is he? - he's got his chickens down there!!
  Luckily, our animals seem to cope with it - Cesar the billy goat kicks off abit.

We're not exactly neighbourly at the moment - he has told me if I don't kill the cockerels, he will.
He reckons they wake him up but in one sentance told me 3 different times ... when I said that we could hear his, he said they were too young - Liar!  his crow in the day and ours answer!  And I'll neck them when they're worth eating, not when some moaning minnie tells me!
And they are shut in every night & now covered - he had the cheek to go up and inspect them when we had visitors, and noticed the pop-hole door is transparent (well it was when it was new!) so I make a point of covering them up too.

I was too polite to mention his escaping dogs, children, noisy wife, bleating lambs that they left alone all day & people would talk to from the footpath cos they were desperate for attention.  And the number of chickens that wander off his property onto ours, or the road, or the footpath... and the one he "gave" us that had coccidiosis which killed our chicks & taught the others to egg-eat.  Or the number of early mornigs he wakes us up when he goes shooting.

Sorry - that was quite a rant!!

[Eeyore]

I Sympathise with you all.  I got my first horse in the summer of 1999 and had the worst night of my life the nigth of the millenium.  My husband and I were both very unwell in bed with Flue when we were awoken to the terrible bang noises.  I went outside to find a neighbour sending fireworks off over the field my mare was in.  I immediately went out to go to my horse who was bolting round the 4 acre field in pure terror.  The fireworks in my little village that night went on till 4 am and my poor horse was terrorised.  The sweat was pouring from her ears down her face and dripping under her belly as if I had poured a hose of water over her.  After this I did and have done everything in my power to make sure my animals are protected.  I have made earmuffs for my horses and played a radio very loudly in their stables. 

Where I live now is much better but I still make sure they are inside and the radio is playing loudly.  Last night a neighbour down the road must have decided he had money to burn and had a large disply (approx 10 minutes of continued fireworks).  My horses could hear them but they didn't see them so they weren't too distressed.  My doggies too don't like bangs and I have the radio playing loudly in the house too.  I used to work in Trading Standards (who licence the shops to sell fireworks) and I know that you can get fireworks that don't make a noise.  I wish these were the ones the general public were only permitted to buy.  I know it wouldn't stop all the problems but I think it would help.

The Fireworks Regulations state:  It is illegal to set of fireworks after 11pm on most nights of the year.  It is illegal to set of fireworks after midnight on Bonfirenight.  However, on Hogmany the curfew extends to 1am.

The Guidelines are:
•   Give neighbours a few days notice of your display – particularly important if they are elderly, have children or pets.
•   Use appropriate fireworks – when buying fireworks, try to avoid really noisy ones. Your supplier should be able to tell you what they are selling.
•   Make sure pets and other animals are safely away from fireworks.
•   Consider timing. If you are using fireworks for a celebration, a Friday or a Saturday is preferable; remember it is illegal to use fireworks after 11.00 pm.
•   Avoid letting off fireworks in unsuitable weather – if it is still and misty or air quality is poor, pollution could be a problem. Check air quality on 0800 556677 or www.airquality.co.uk/
•   Let off your fireworks in open garden areas – noise bounces off buildings and smoke and pollution build up in enclosed spaces.
•   If a neighbour complains that you are disturbing them, their pets or livestock, be considerate.
•   After your display, clear up firework fall out and dispose of it safely.

[ballingall]

We are fortunate where we are, in that there isn't much in the way of fireworks set off round here. But our old house was a nightmare. I don't mind so much fireworks on bonfire night- but in Kinross, you used to get people setting off fireworks from mid October until mid November! You can plan for Bonfire night, but you can't plan for these unexpected extra displays!
Completely agree with you on this plums.
Beth

[ellisr]

My stupid neighbour decided to have a huge bonfire and set off fireworks on friday, when I got in from work it was well under way and the horse and sheep were petrified. It is quite hard to get a 17hh ex racehorse when petrified. I managed to get him into the stables and calmed to manageable with hay and carrots but still had to sponge him down and dry him as he was all sweated up he was still frightened the next morning when I went to let him out.
My husband had been in all day and only left at 4 so there was no excuse not to tell us of there plans so we could make arrangements. We have an old dog that gets in a right state with thunder and fireworks so he had made a mess as well.

[mab]

It never ceases to amaze me how little thought people give to animals - or worse people who wouldn't care even if they did think.

I'm lucky in that my neighbours are not a problem, but I do wish there was a tighter restriction on the size of fireworks that can be bought for personal use.

I've never understood the attraction of loud noises myself - they just irritate me - even when I was younger I couldn't understand why friends would want to spend their friday nights having their eardrums pounded in a nightclub. Or maybe I'm just weird

And I've nothing but contempt for those blokes that put cherry-bomb exhausts on their underpowered motorbikes - especially the middle-aged blokes - you'd think they'd've grown out of it.

mab

[Penninehillbilly]

It's reading this thread I realise how lucky I am where we are. we do hear and see fireworks but at a good distance, some time ago nearby people put an email warning message out to everyone a couple of days before, of course many of us sent a 'thanks for the warning' reply.
where I used to live was bad and the dog used to hide, memory dims untill you read these experiences. It would be tempting to want to throw a bucket of water or hosepipe on the proceedings, but of course the animals safety must come first.
Hope everyones animals are OK.
lets hope it's over for another year.

[plumseverywhere]

Well, just spent an hour picking up rubbish from the land. All the lambs are ok, both goats fine so thats the main thing. Neighbour stood watching me pick it up from his kitchen!  there are some round lumps that look like concrete almost which must have been part of the launching of the larger fireworks? they could have acted like bullets in the wrong situation, they are heavy.
I've read a few legal sites via google, the fact his 'litter' landed on our land can be classed as trespass but we won't take it this far obvioulsy but good to know we can tell him that if it happens again. Apparantly the law won't class the fireworks near livestock as a legal issue unless you can prove someone is intending to harm them? so that's not helpful 

[Victorian Farmer]

the m 5 crash could be fire work related whot a wast off life and yes they had itt Friday night not on Saturday

[plumseverywhere]

that's true    and the amount of smoke generated by a bonfire combined with fog is just lethal.