Wednesday, March 07, 2007

Finch Started Barn Fire with Cigarette Butt

Be careful with your smokes!



One more reason not to smoke, or at least, to use an ashtray rather than tossing live cigarette butts out the window:

Lit cigarette butts don't cause a "lot" of barn fires but they may cause a few. About 20 years ago I got a call from a man who traced a small fire in his barn back to a bird nest.

A house finch had used a cigarette butt (paper and dried plant matter) to add to the walls of its nest, and apparently it was still lit. It burned about 5 feet around the nest area.

Source: Birdwatching column by Gary Bogue, published in Contra Costa Times, 3/07/2007

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CONTENTMENT: Keep your heart free from hate, your mind from worry, live simply, expect little, give much, sing often, pray always, forget self, think of others and their feelings, fill your heart with love, scatter sunshine. These are the tried links in the golden chain of contentment.
(Author unknown)

IT IS STILL BEST to be honest and truthful; to make the most of what we have; to be happy with simple pleasure; and to be cheerful and have courage when things go wrong.
(Laura Ingalls Wilder, 1867-1957)

Thanks for reading.