Why Easter bonfires are often “pyres” for wild animals

Deadly tradition
Fox girl almost burned alive – why Easter bonfires are often “pyres” for wild animals

Easter bonfires look spectacular. But while people are watching, animals are often burning inside at the same time. That almost happened to the little “Fillie”.

The story of “Fillie Osterfuchs” moved many people in Hamburg last year. The fox girl was only about four weeks old when she suffered severe burn injuries in an Easter fire, as reported by the Hamburg Animal Welfare Association. For weeks it was unclear whether the little one would survive – she was cared for around the clock by the animal rights activists until months later she was finally on the mend and strong enough to be released into the wild.

The Hamburg Animal Welfare Association and other organizations are therefore warning: Easter bonfires pose a deadly threat to all kinds of wild animals. “Especially small and young animals like to use the heaps of brushwood and scrub as a shelter,” writes Luisa Finsterwalder in a press release from the association. The animal rights activists, who have cared for many burned animals in the Hanseatic city, formulate it drastically: An Easter bonfire could become a “pyre for wild animals”.

Piles of wood for Easter bonfires are popular shelters for many animal species

Piles of wood and twigs that are built weeks before they are set on fire are particularly dangerous. Many animals are happy about such housing opportunities – especially now that it is still quite cool at night.

Anyone who has ever piled up a pile of wood or brushwood in the garden knows that animal residents move in there very quickly: These can be hedgehogs and birds, but also frogs and mice – and certainly insects. If the heap is then simply set on fire, the animals can no longer escape and burn miserably in the inferno.

The Animal Welfare Association therefore recommends avoiding Easter bonfires altogether. If you really want to light one, you should definitely follow a few tips:

The heap should be very loose to make it less attractive to wildlife. Nevertheless, it must be completely rearranged immediately before lighting, so that the animals that have hidden there can escape. When shifting, you should make noise to drive the animals away.

But not even noise always helps, as the Hamburg Animal Welfare Association wrote. Because this tends to startle adult animals, young animals would rather hide.

Stacked wood in the garden can be a beautiful biotope

Actually, piles of wood or brushwood are far too beautiful and interesting to burn, as animal rights activists also write. Such small biotopes provide welcome habitat for all manner of mammals, birds, amphibians and insects and are interesting to observe.

To light them as an Easter fire, they are far too good.

Sources: Hamburg Animal Welfare Association, The story of “Fillie Osterfuchs” on the website of the Hamburg Animal Welfare Association“24Hamburg.de“

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