Drone light shows

Nature Talk
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What do you all think about drone light shows and what/if any effect they have on our beloved animals, birds, insects, etc? The videos of the show are amazing, but I cannot help but feel awful for the various nature friends out there who get scared, disoriented, or whatnot from these events. If you haven’t heard/seen one, here is a link to one in WA recently: https://www.redmond.gov/1799/Drone-Light-Show-by-Verge-Aero

I know that many public open spaces are no drone zones, so why would this be OK when over a large park, lake or other rather open space venue?

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I think @txwoofus briefly mentioned this in topic: Holiday Fireworks

There’s also a good discussion in topic: Using Drones for Inat

I haven’t personally witnessed one, though. It sounds better than fireworks, instead of lots of low-frequency rumble… more like a quiet smoothie blender?

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Not to mention that the drones don’t drop shrapnel and or start fires….

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I’d think that compared to the impact the lights of the city in that video have it’s minimal at the very worst.

And, as others have said, far less impacting than fireworks.

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I can’t provide any input based on direct wildlife observations but I think my dog provides a reasonable analog for mammals at least. We live on a small island off the West coast of Canada. My dog will challenge fireworks he hears from Vancouver (approx 42 km away) just like he will challenge thunder and blasting. However he completely ignores drones unless they get so close he thinks he can fetch it. He obviously views the sound of far off fireworks as a potential threat but not the whine of a drone.

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One of my cats is very sensitive to fireworks; she hides for hours whenever they’re going off. Granted, she has some unusual phobias: stand up bicycle pumps, long black/white umbrella, grecian head flower pots.

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Thanks all for your thoughts. I purposefully was not questioning whether they are better than fireworks because that is a slam dunk. I’m really just trying to get at the heart of whether drones encase like that are rather disruptive to our natural world. Along the lines of the drone which caused a large flock of terns to leave their nesting grounds. It seems there isn’t enough experience with this kind of new show to see any potential negative effects as yet.

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