Is it ok for kids to chase ducks?

Yeah "maybe" you should, if raising a respectful, kind young man is important to you? Which I assume it is. Lifelong empathy for humans and animals starts early on, it's your job as a parent to teach him right from wrong.

As a previous goose owning person, i'd take my boys for walks at the park, yes, obviously seeing someone walking a goose is a novelty, so expect to be stopped a lot, but my god, some of the little shits accompanied by their parents would chase them something rotten even while the parent was stood talking to me and not say a word about it! I was furious, they aren't like dogs being prey animals and something big chasing you can really stress them out!

Chasing any wildlife is wrong.

Don't get me started on how many adults would say to the little ones "Oh, look at that person walking his ducks!" they don't even look the same!

No it's not okay at all, just shows a complete lack of respect and care, especially when the parents are watching, and don't intervene and tell them not to. I will always say something, and I don't care if the parents hear. If enough people tell them off for it, maybe at some point they will think about their actions and stop doing it. Very young children can and should be taught kindness, and how to treat animals and people, and by they're old enough to be running around they are capable to understand that it's not acceptable to chase animals and scare them. My kids grew up with animals and knew from babies the right way to stroke a dog or a cat, that they mustn't grab fur or pull ears, and that we are kind to animals big and small. They would never stomp on an ant, and get visably upset when other children ever did, and hated it when they saw others chasing the ducks at the park, or scaring off pigeons by running at them. My niece is a bloody nightmare for this though, and my sister just let's her do it. And now she's done it so often she just finds it funny and doesn't understand when I, or others, try to stop her. Completely my sisters fault, as she's never taught her that it's not okay, so now it's become the norm. Infuriates me, and I now limit time with her, as this is just one example of the overall bad/passive parenting that has created a child with absolutely no respect or boundaries for anything, and every outing is highly stressful. Respect and kindness can be taught so early on, and unfortunately alot just don't bother, and then wonder why their kids grow up to be disrespectful, mean teenagers and adults.

Well is it alright for me to chase your children until they are terrified and panicking? I mean compared to me your kids are small and insignificant. No?

Then don't let them do it to the ducks! What just because they're little they don't get the same basic courtesy you'd give any other living, sentient animal?

You'd not let them do it to a dog or horse in case it hurt them. So you're basically teaching them that it's OK to frighten and hurt others as long as they are smaller and not capable of fighting back. Stellar parenting there.

Absolutely not.

I live in a seaside resort and seagulls are an absolute pain in the arse (I know they were here before us, but still doesn't stop them being a pain!) but I'd never dream of chasing or hurting one. I'd gently shoe them away if they were coming close but never chase!

Dont let your children chase ducks, it’s cruel . The next bird they decide to chase might be a goose, see how well that works out for them.

Awful.

Way to go to teach your kids that teasing or mistreating animals is a fun game 😡

Agree 💯

No hyperbole. You just lack basic awareness.

Children should be taught that all animals should be respected. That includes NOT chasing them for fun.

The fact that you say you own chickens and ducks and still condone chasing them begs belief. I think you are just a wind up merchant and you don't have the faintest clue about keeping poultry. #bsalert

I think parents who allow their children to pester birds, or any wildlife really, are complete twats.

Would and have told off children for chasing animals.

No it’s not ok to chase any animal- they don't know it’s a game and they’re not going to get hurt.

And yes I would( and have) say something

No it’s not ok for kids to chase wildlife. It causes great stress to the animal.

Why do you think dogs have to be on a lead around wildlife and farm animals ? Because they may chase/ attack them!

I agree with the stranger telling off the kids.

I’d do the same.

If you’re incapable of parenting your child, someone else will !

Have you not taught your children to respect animals??

You're just suffering from a massive dissonance if you think like this. And animals aren't humanely killed. They're not pts with an injection their heads are bashed in and their throats cut

I didn't say that, I said it's an entirely different argument. Humans are top of the food chain and eat meat. Therefore animals need to be killed. It should be done in a humane way. Chasing an animal for FUN does not serve any purpose other than to cause extreme fear and sometimes a pointless, wasteful death.

Geese are great!
The farm where I kept my horse had ''Guard Geese''- they advanced, necks low and beaks hissing and honking Squawking at anyone they didn't recognise.

Better than dogs, as this Prison found out!

@RedHelenB the amygdala has been identified in most species. Not yet in invertebrates but it hasn’t been written off that they don’t have an alternative, scientists aren’t really sure on how they process such reactions and we may never know.

Animals very much feel fear. They don’t show it in the same way that humans do, but they absolutely feel it on the same level.

Edit: I tagged the wrong person, apologies

@RedHelenB animals absolutely do feel fear, I had a beautiful rabbit who had been bullied as a young baby who died of fear seeing a fox in the garden. I was out in the garden the fox didn’t get anywhere near him but simply seeing it killed him. It was so sad as he was doing so well and I thought we had it under control

my current ones don’t go outside as one is equally nervous outside of a space they can cintril

it is awful awful behaviour

You think animals don't feel fear? You'd be very, very, VERY wrong. A human could actually articulate their fear or reason that the person chasing them might be having a joke. An animal does not, it simply feels the threat of something 20 times it's size chasing it. It assumes it's about to be killed. It feels terror.

I wouldn’t let my kids chase ducks but In a park situation wouldn’t say it’s causing a huge amount of stress to the ducks, they could easily fly away if they chose too and the trade off from being occasionally chased by children and getting fed huge amounts of extra food by humans is clearly worth it to them or they wouldn’t be there. Outwith the park setting chasing wild birds could put a lot of stress on them and interrupt normal feeding and breeding behaviours so is absolutely never acceptable. This include wild gulls and waders at the beach however people seem to think it’s acceptable to let their dogs chase them off the shore!

edited to say I have looked into the unable to fly during moult thing and I stand corrected, I didn’t realise this happens to wild mallards too.

What? Not OK to chase pigeons. They aren't toys.

a rat?

No, it's not OK. I spoke to a boy who was throwing stones at a baby seagull on the beach. Just made him think twice about harming a baby. Children have to be taught to respect wildlife and pets, just as they have to be taught not to bully other children.

pigeons don’t deserve chasing either

we had them as pets, food, companions for decades. Made them reliant on humans, trained them to be with us. Then discarded them when we didn’t need them anymore. They are still reliant on us, their nature is still to be with humans.

nothing deserves to be scared for fun, not an ant, a frog, a fox or a bird.

Your voting explanation was so odd 'is it bad to chase ducks YABU' makes it sound like YABU is 'you're unreasonable to think it's bad to chase them, it's fine' so your responses are probably a mixed bag as a result.