But it was back in 2019.... The Farm Side: Strange objects in the sky
By Recorder News | May 23, 2019 | Local Commentary, Opinion |
By Marianne Friers
Sweet Sunday sitting, on the front porch with Miss Peggy, watching birds and discussing the necessity of mowing the lawn.
Maybe we will need to bring the discbine down for a couple of days and possibly the rake and baler too.
Oh, wait, it’s not just too wet to mow with the lawnmower, it’s too wet to bale.
And besides…it would ruin the flower beds.
Off to the east of us an object rose into the sky. We had just been finding dinosaur heads in the clouds and wondering whether the bird we saw at the absolute zenith of the sky, barely visible without binoculars, was a Bald Eagle or not (later revealed to be an Osprey), when we saw the thing.
At first I thought (with a little shudder) that it was a golden helium balloon. They are lovely, but we all know they are more dangerous to wildlife than grocery bags ever imagined being. I snapped a couple of photos, because I almost always have the camera, and if I didn’t shoot it, it didn’t happen. The little point and shoot we take out birding has amazing zoom.
Peggy was unable to see the sky climbing object, so I zoomed in the back of camera view for her. To my astonishment there was fire in the balloon. Rather than a mere helium balloon, which, if you believe the pundits who write about dead sea turtles, are deadly enough in their own right, this was a fire balloon.
A sky lantern. A sky candle. Or as some call them, a Kongming lantern.
I had never seen one before. I even had to look up the name of the thing that floated ever higher over our orchard and pasture before drifting off to the southwest of us as the day’s thunderstorms rumbled past.
According to several sources these lanterns have been a customary feature of celebration and entertainment for centuries in many countries. Traditionally their structure involves various papers or fabrics and wire or bamboo hoops. A stiff collar at the bottom holds the fuel source and at least in theory keeps it away from the flammable walls. Fuel for the fire part of the deal is supplied by a small candle or waxed material.
Along with the fascination at seeing such an unlikely craft over Fultonville came a small frisson of concern. Aren’t those things dangerous?
First of all it’s flying fire. I know it’s been wet around here…see above. The grass is saturated, leaves hang like wet tissue from the trees, and every body of water is gushing or flooding or swelling with excess. However, supposing the thing landed on a roof, say maybe the roof of a barn full of hay?
Such devices have started a number of wildfires, burned down a cell tower in North Carolina, caused car accidents, closed airports, and burned down homes and business buildings all over the world. One fire started by a sky lantern in Great Britain caused ten million dollars worth of damage to a recycling facility. The landing of the object was captured on security camera, so there was no question about the source of the inferno.
Even without the potential for fire, sharp objects in fields are clearly a problem. Wires that might be ingested by cows, whether in grass as they graze or in hay or stored forages fed by the farmer, can make them very sick or kill them.
I will never forget milking shiny, gentle, sweet Maqua-kil E Danilla one evening back in the day. She was a nice cow, a family favorite. One of those that did her job without fanfare or kicking the milker off or crowding the crew. She came faithfully to her designated stall, ate dinner, was milked and went back to pasture each day quietly and calmly.
The kids were small then and it was a school night, so as was our practice, I milked my string and took the kids home for supper and early bedtime, while the boss and his mom finished up.
Not ten minutes after we left the phone rang. Danilla was dead. She had lain down in her stall and quietly expired, just like that. The boss immediately called our veterinarian for a speedy necropsy. It was soon discovered Danilla had died of a lacerated liver caused by a piece of sharp metal that had found its way into the feed.
Although many farms, including ours, use magnets in feed delivery systems to catch the offending metal contaminants before they reach the cows, sometimes bits are missed or worse, the metal is not magnetic.
Aluminum is a nasty offender. Beverage cans of all sorts are usually made of it and are often tossed from windows into farm fields, where the soft, easily torn or cut up metal can end up in feed. One estimate claims that 5,200 cows per year die in Sweden from ingesting metal from litter.
Sadly, many kinds of wire are made of aluminum.
Who knows what type of metal goes into the construction of flying litter, as one article called the lanterns? I looked at a plethora of ads offering them for sale, but although some claimed to be 100% biodegradable, none had lists of materials or much in the way of details at all.
And even if they don’t contain dangerous metals, who needs flying fire anyhow?
Many countries ban the devices, as do 30 US states. Legislation is being considered here in NY as well. However, we all know just how well banning things, especially things that are fun, works.
Common sense is cheaper and more effective when practiced. Or at least I think so. Meanwhile, floaty, fiery things and dangerous objects which may be consumed by innocent beasts should probably not be sent willy-nilly over fences, fields, and farms.
There is a bill in committee in the state legislature, which suggests simply tethering the things so they stay where they are wanted. Thanks.
Fultonville dairy farmer Marianne Friers is used to be a regular columnist before the Gazette bought the paper and fired her. She blogs at http://northvilledairy.blogspot.com.
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