I don't hate the last part of the year from a wildlife perspective. I have gained many years of knowledge and experience and there is always something worth watching if you know what to look out for and where. It is all about seasonal rhythms and phenology.
No, I am talking about human behaviour as the year progresses towards its end.
Firstly, we have Halloween on 31st October 2021 and the ridiculous and very annoying American-styled trick-or-treating where groups of kids roam the streets knocking on doors or buzzing the entry-doors of flats.
I suspect that not a single child or parent has the slightest understanding or awareness of the meaning of the ancient custom and celebration of Halloween. Fortunately, this year there seems to have been less of the anti-social activity now associated with Halloween.
Secondly, this is closely followed by Guy Fawkes Night on 5th November 2021 when fireworks are let off. Again, I am fairly confident that few people have any knowledge of who Guy Fawkes was or the significance of the Gunpowder Plot of 1605.
Unfortunately Guy Fawkes Night no longer seems to be a single night but anything up to 2 weeks before and after the actual date. Once again, this year there seems to be a decrease in the amount of fireworks prior to 5th November.
Fireworks cause a lot of annoyance to the majority of people, they cause immense stress and fear for domestic pets and wildlife, they cause injuries and deaths when used without care and they cause littering, pollution and accidental fires.
I have a very vague recollection of when I was a child and my parents having a fireworks party in our garden. Even then, I could not understand the point, especially given the terrible effect on our dogs. Much more recently, my Mum had both a dog and a cat, both of which were completely terrified of fireworks and spent days hiding in the spare bedroom under the bed.
In my view there is a simple solution and one where the Government receives petitions from huge numbers of people every year: ban the domestic use of fireworks and limit their use entirely to properly organised and controlled events at suitable locations on 5th November and New Years Eve with all entry fees accruing to local charities or other community fund raising initiatives.
Finally, there is Christmas. As an atheist, humanist and secularist, I see no significance at all in this religious celebration. However, I do understand the context although in fact there were many mid-winter and winter solstice celebrations long before the Romans fixed the unknown and claimed date of Jesus' birth to 25th December in the 4th century.
Given the complete collapse in the number of people in the UK believing in god, any god, it will be only a tiny proportion of the population who understand and derive any religious significance from Christmas. Instead, for the vast majority of people it is a festival of excessive greed, consumption and waste which I find utterly appalling.
If I did believe in any religion, and especially one that subscribed to a belief in reincarnation, I would like to think that I would return as a Brown Bear. In the Native American tradition and culture, bears figure prominently in the mythology of nearly every tribe and in horoscopes and astrology the bear is the symbol of people born between August 22nd and September 21st (I was born during this period).
If I am reincarnated as a Brown Bear, I would be able to hibernate in a den deep underground from the late autumn to the spring and be completely oblivious to Halloween, Guy Fawkes Night and Christmas.
Photo: Brown Bear at Kuntilampi, near Kuusamo, Pohjois-Pohjanmaa, Finland
No comments:
Post a Comment
If you feel like commenting on my blog, you can contact me by completing the comment form below. I will respond to all comments and enquiries and constructive criticism will always be welcomed.