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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To be upset at DH for killing a pheasant?

108 replies

MrsSatsuma · 18/09/2011 21:19

Driving along a country road we came across a group of pheasants. DH beeped the horn and slowed down a bit but when they didn't move he just kept driving and hit one. His reaction was 'oops'.

Now I know they are probably the UK's most stupid birds but I was shocked he didn't try harder to avoid it, which he could easily have done without putting any human life at risk. He could have slowed down much more than he did and beeped again and they would probably have moved! I was so upset I burst into tears - upset because of the poor little thing (to which he replied 'it's only a bird) but also because of what I thought was a very callous reaction.

AIBU to have got so upset with him?

OP posts:

BluddyMoFo · 18/09/2011 21:20

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

thisisyesterday · 18/09/2011 21:22

you're a bit unreasonable yes

i did the exact same thing once, before i found out how stupid they are.
just assumed it would fly off.
it didn't

Onlyaphase · 18/09/2011 21:23

YABU. I've never beeped at pheasants and not managed to hit one yet. Your DH must have hit a particularly stupid bird, who would otherwise have been shot for entertainment later this year.

Grockle · 18/09/2011 21:24

Yum, pheasant.

squeakytoy · 18/09/2011 21:24

He could have slowed down much more than he did and beeped again and they would probably have moved

I could be wrong, but I dont think pheasants have been taught the highway code... :)

eekamouse2 · 18/09/2011 21:25

I do always brake for them (there are loads around here at the moment), but occasionally I hit one and don't really beat myself up about it.

BoulevardOfBrokenSleep · 18/09/2011 21:26

Well.... Are you a vegetarian?

TawnyGrisette · 18/09/2011 21:27

Personally I couldn't be married to someone who killed something for the sake of it, or for the lack of a tiny bit of effort (like swerving slightly).

I was driving home today and a squirrel ran out straight in front of me. I braked and didn't hit it, but then watched it run straight under the car coming in the opposite direction. It was instantly squashed.

If your DH has stopped and picked up the pheasant to cook and eat, then I wouldn't have a problem with it at all (despite the law saying you can't collect and eat what you've just run over), but ending a life because you think it's funny/can't be bothered not to/couldn't give a toss about a life, I find abhorrent, frankly.

banana87 · 18/09/2011 21:27

Are you serious? LOL.

SwingingBetty · 18/09/2011 21:28

i wouldnt be happy with OH driving over any animal and not caring

Acekicker · 18/09/2011 21:30

YABU - slowing down/swerving suddenly on country roads can be very dangerous to people.

chocolateyclur · 18/09/2011 21:31

My ex was a bit like this when he was driving - would never take any evasive action to miss anything that wouldn't damage his car. Git.

izzywhizzyletsgetbusy · 18/09/2011 21:31

If he shot it, I'd divorce him.

Now he knows how dumb they are, sue for divorce if he runs another one over.

AhsataN · 18/09/2011 21:32

we were driving down a country lane and the car in front hit a pheasant and killed it out right, we stopped picked it up and my friend made pheasant soup out of it.

Vallhala · 18/09/2011 21:32

I would have been disgusted with him. I couldn't live with someone who had that sort of disregard for another creature's life. Extremist? Possibly, but I live by the code of morals I'd expect to find in a partner and no, before anyone asks, I don't eat meat. :o

backwardpossom · 18/09/2011 21:32

I kill pheasants quite regularly. There are a lot of them where I live and the country roads make it difficult to avoid them at times. Bastard things make a right mess.

Swerving and/or slowing down for them is illegal as far as I'm aware and if your DH braked suddenly and someone went into the back of him/swerved and hit someone head on on the other side of the road, I suspect you'd be posting something like "AIBU to be annoyed with my DH for causing an accident for a bloody pheasant".

YABU.

thisisyesterday · 18/09/2011 21:32

btw, there is no law saying you can't pick up stuff you kill in your car.

i looked it up last time this discussion was on here lol.
any dead animals technically belong to the highway agency however they generally don't care if people want to take them home and eat them

EverythingInMiniature · 18/09/2011 21:32

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

snailoon · 18/09/2011 21:32

I would be extremely upset by this attitude, so I don't think you are unreasonable.
It is easy for people to become callous, and to ignore suffering and death; I always see insensitivity to small animals' suffering as a symbol of people's insensitivity when it comes to larger issues. (I don't mean to imply your husband is hard-hearted; that's just how I react.)

backwardpossom · 18/09/2011 21:33

I should add, I do feel sad if I kill one, but I don't exactly mourn them.

BoulevardOfBrokenSleep · 18/09/2011 21:35

Pheasants can be a bit of a shock for the urban driver, cause we're used to pigeons/crows that sit in the road till the last minute and then flap off casually. But the pheasant sits there till the last minute... and then disappears under your wheels. .

Who'd've thought a wild animal could be that thick?!

snailoon · 18/09/2011 21:36

ou should always be aware if someone is behind you so it would be unsafe to brake, and people should not tailgate.

backwardpossom · 18/09/2011 21:36

Sometimes they look like they're going to move, start off in the right direction to get off the road, then turn around at the last minute and run under your car. They're the stupidest animals I've ever come across.

ronx · 18/09/2011 21:40

Yabu. Plenty more where that pheasant came from.

slavetofilofax · 18/09/2011 21:40

I would feel sad for the pheasant too, and probably be annoyed with dh. But then I would think of this amazing guy I know who is now paralysed from the neck down after swerving to avoid hitting a badger. And then I'd be glad that the pheasant was hurt, and not one of us.

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