To have said something about the person who is stringing tinsel in our local lanes?

[FortunesFave]

Before I go on, I live in Australia. The wildlife here is extensive and some of it endangered. People try their best to protect it.

Someone just posted on my local town FB page and thanked whoever has been hanging tinsel and baubles along the lane which is a long and beautiful lane spanning miles of open countryside ...it ends at the sea.

I commented to ask if this is a wise thing to do as animals and birds are at risk of entanglement.

I never comment like this...it seems busybodyish but the level of ignorance got to me.

People moan about balloon releases and those paper lanterns but they're liking this post?

Plastic tinsel? And baubles? Why? I'm too scared to look to see if anyone's commented on my response!

Go and look, tell us what they have said. Plastic tinsel and baubles are a stupid idea where animals could eat or get trapped by it.

The ones liking it probably haven't really thought it through i suspect. Plus it's not MN where people can be judgemental in secret, whereas Facebook- not so much.

If they’ve tied it on firmly and they’re planning to tidy it all away after xmas then yanbu. Birds are not gonna get entangled in baubles and tinsel. The magpies will be thrilled at all the sparkle.

If they are just leaving it there to blow into the sea or wherever then yanbu.

I think it was fine to mention it and I would have myself. I would avoid accusing people, though, of being stupid or malicious, I imagine they were just trying to cheer things up.

YANBU!

Only the poster has responded. He's said it's no different to the stuff farmers use to scare birds away locally. 3 people have liked his comment. They all think I'm the Grinch now.

But it looks tacky anyway! Bloody tinsel on a beautiful native tree!

I don't think yabu, op. This would piss me off. We've got a terrible new trend nearby of 'Christmas lampposts' and people are tieing tacky pieces of tinsel and plastic toys to make the area look 'festive'. I dread to think how much of this shit is going to end up blowing around and ending up in the countryside nearby.

Too many people using the excuse of having a bad year to not think about the consequences of anything they're doing.

YANBU I hate shit like this. I live beside a beautiful forest park and some bloody genius started a 'magic tree' which idiots use to hang soothers (dummys/pacifiers/gobstoppers) on in an attempt to stop their kids sucking them, I suppose it is difficult to suck a soother if its stuck on a tree branch but you know what I mean, the parents spin a story about fairies etc needed the soother and hang it on the tree, all grand if they'd remove the horrible plastic used soother afterwards but they don't. I counted almost 100 hanging on it last time I was there. It looks disgusting and so out of place. Even my 10 year old niece commented on it being horrible and she was concerned about the plastic and rubber disintegrating as it ages in the outdoors, she has more sense than some adults.

Tinsel as in long thin strands of it or the stuff that comes in a thick sparkly rope? As I've seen cats and dogs eat the former then I could easily see wild animals eating it.

THANK YOU!!! I’m so sick of the decaying bears and crap nailed to fences around my suburb (also Aus) and now so much plastic Christmas shit that you can see from the moon at night (how is that helping the nocturnal wildlife, exactly?)

More people came to defend the post and I can't really believe it. This area is very well known for its care for trees and other living things...I'm not even as active about that stuff as half the people here!

YANBU and good for you for saying something.

I'm sure lots of people agree with you OP they just don't want to speak out.

Can't you report it as litter

We have something similar going on here, where people “decorate” a public tree and submit it to a map. It’s to cheer people up, so I’ve kept my thoughts to myself, but I think it looks cheap and tacky. Plus I think it’s such a shame to wrap a beautiful tree in plastic.

Prepared to be flamed but I feel the same about "yarn bombing" probably most of it synthetic and even if it isn't, wildlife can get tangled in it. Plus after a couple of days it looks manky anyway.

As lovely as I'm sure it is, the people who put all the effort into putting these things up, probably don't put nearly as much in clearing it down.

After the festivities have passed, trudging down out of their way with some empty bags, and picking off scraggly tinsel and water filled baubles is probably bottom of their priority list.

But christmas blinds people to shit like this, they think aawww how festive. They'll also likely forget all about it, until someone mid january posts about some lazy sod who 'dumped' their xmas decorations.

I don't know anything about Australia. Doesn't seem like anyone else is bothered though. Seems like a nice thing to do. Oz has had a pretty crap year with bush fires etc so yabu.

It's when they don't clear it away after!

Well there have been a couple of posts saying things like "I wonder who did this?" and "Yes...I wonder that too.."

In a slightly nudge-nudge way...so it made me wonder if the actual original poster had been the one!

Write on there “ok, well I disagree. I think it looks tacky anyway. It’s destroying the look of our beautiful natural road and I’d like to know what your plan is for removing it all after Christmas? What date are you removing it? If that stuff gets blown around it’s a fire hazard and putting plastic into the natural environment. Actually maybe I should call the authorities to get their opinion. You probably need a licence to do this. You’ve taken it upon yourself to do this and I don’t agree with it. Your views aren’t more important than mine. You aren’t the King of Australia. I want it taken down” fuck em. That stuff is hugely flammable. You really should report it to the authorities. Hell, tell us the name of the Facebook page and we’ll all go on and support you

It's a private group Stranger and I'm not going to out myself on Mumsnet!

I didn't think about the flammability issues I must say!

I'm in Oz too - not a Grinch either - but that crap shouldn't be anywhere outside of your own home. Flammable shit that can choke or strangle birds/animals, yeah, let's just spread it everywhere and then not clean it up after the 'festive' season..

Tell the putter-upper that you have tinsel-itis (allergic to tinsel)

One of my cats is obsessed with tinsel, eats it and then I find sparkly vomits around the place. She never learns. So I agree that the native wildlife might eat it as well. Or they’ll just chew bits off and it’ll end up in the ocean. Keep it inside I say.

I agree with you op, I love seeing Christmas decorations and will quite happily have tinsel all round my house, but there are lots of animals it could become a problem for, and I’m sure the culprit won’t have the same enthusiasm for cleaning it up afterwards.

Did anyone see the video of the koala who went in someone’s house and climbed their Christmas tree and got stuck in the decorations!