As of: March 29, 2024, 11:00 a.m
By: Sina Lück
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Fox lady Fillie got it badly. She sustained severe burns in an Easter fire. But what can you do to protect wildlife from the flames?
Easter fires are a tradition for people. However, they become a deadly prison for animals. Once the flames start blazing, they can hardly escape in time. Every year, numerous wild animals die in the “pyres”, as the
Hamburg Animal Protection Association (HTV)
reports on its website. Some of them are lucky and just manage to escape death - like the little fox Fillie.
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As a four-week-old vixen, she was caught in the flames of an Easter fire in May 2022 and suffered severe burns. Thanks to intensive medical care, the vixen got back on her feet. “The dead facial skin was recently removed in an operation. Fillie survived the treatment well and is recovering quickly from the procedure,” according to
HTV
. A similar fate happened to three brown hares who suffered burns in the flames. Everyone was shocked; any help came too late for one animal. However, anyone who discovers a seemingly abandoned bunny should not be too quick to help.
A fox pup almost died in an Easter fire. To protect wildlife, rearranging the piles of wood helps. (Symbolic image) © G. Lacz/Imago
Unseen: Wild animals seek shelter in the piles
The sad results of the Hamburg animal protection association show: Easter fires are a great danger to wild animals. Small animals in particular seek shelter in the piles of wood. Brushwood and bushes are an ideal hiding place for the offspring in spring. The problem: The wood and branches for the festival often lie there completely untouched for a few weeks. People don't notice anything about the living beings inside.
Avoiding an Easter fire entirely is therefore the safest way to protect wild animals. Stacked up all year round, brushwood piles even provide a valuable habitat for creatures. “Small animals such as toads and hedgehogs like to use piles of wood as a hiding place in the spring temperatures, mice and birds even build their nests here,” says
HTV
.
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Make Easter fires animal-safe: three tips for preparation
If you don't want to forego tradition, you can at least make the Easter fire animal-safe. The
Hamburg Animal Welfare Association
gives three tips on how to do this:
Stack wood loosely:
Loose construction of wood piles makes them less attractive to wild animals. Better yet: pile up the branches just before lighting.
Make noise:
Loud noises scare the animals and drive them from their shelter. However, this usually only attracts adult four-legged friends. Young animals, on the other hand, often hide deeper into the branches.
Rearrange heaps:
young animals and hedgehogs seek shelter at the bottom of the Easter fire. To discover them, it helps to rearrange the pile of wood before lighting it.
The editor wrote this article and then used an AI language model for optimization at her own discretion. All information has been carefully checked. Find out more about our AI principles here.