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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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:
nothingoldcanstay · 18/09/2011 22:37

Bollocks MumbaiMamma. If you rear birds in cramped battery conditions and then released them into a wood they'd all be dead within a week. They are looked after very well in large pens so they are as healthy as possible until 7 weeks then looked after in release pens in the woods.
If you don't belive in shooting that's one thing(although I like the idea my food is living wild until the end) but don't just make stuff up.
No one I know involved in pheasant shooting would think running one over is acceptable. It's a matter of respect for animals. Anyone can run over a dumb bird but it's not necessary.

eekamouse2 · 18/09/2011 22:39

We went for a walk in the woods behind our house today and they are certainly kept out in the wild, albeit there are chicken wire fences but surrounding a couple of acres of woodland each.

AhsataN · 18/09/2011 22:40

they are the thickest bird really, i was out riding and pheasants would wait until you got right next to them and run like mad hatters all over the place under the horses feet. most animals ignore horses because they just see another animal rather than the rider on top.
very pretty birds though!

SarahStratton · 18/09/2011 22:51

It's probably this years' brood. They eventually work out that car = death, but only after seeing 99% of their mates squashed. They're everywhere here, general feeling is that it was a wasted journey if you don't manage a brace. I've managed to run over quite a few riding.

PMSL at 'stupid, son of stupid, I'm with stupid'.

And they are NOT kept in battery conditions ffs.

Original poster
MrsSatsuma · 18/09/2011 23:16

Didn't expect this many replies! I know they're stupid, and I wouldn't expect him to have done anything that would be unsafe. He didn't try to hit it, just made no attempt not to (we were the only car for miles around). It was his total lack of remorse that got me. I'd never do anything while driving to endanger human life, but I would be upset if I hit an animal. I'm not vegetarian btw.

OP posts:
eslteacher · 18/09/2011 23:30

YABU. He didn't do it maliciously, probably expected it to flap off and it didn't. If you're OK with animals being killed for you to eat them, not sure why this is a lot different except that you had to witness it. It's just another dead bird out of the millions that are killed every day for human pleasure and convenience.

LotteryWinnersOnAcid · 18/09/2011 23:32

YANBU. I ran over (popped, actually :() a seagull a few weeks ago - accidentally of course, I didn't notice it - and I still get choked up/horrified at the thought of it. Completely traumatised. It was just after a crossing on the seafront and I was convinced I'd hit a small child. DH had to run back to check. Absolutely awful. :(

RedOnion · 18/09/2011 23:34

If your OH intended to then get out of the car, pick up said warm feathery dead animal, take it home and pluck and gut it, THEN make food from it, fair play. If he hit it, couldn't give a shit and left in the road then I hope he doesn't get hit by a vegan (me) when I decide he shall be left in the road to rot.

RedOnion · 18/09/2011 23:37

They aren't stupid. They struggle to fly, much the same as the dreaded "daddy long legs" insects do, they have wings but are not inherently built for flying. Oncoming danger to a pheasant = panic. Nowhere to go. Arsehole husbands driving their soft top BMW M5s = dead birds/foxes/cats.

eekamouse2 · 18/09/2011 23:40

But they stand there by the gate, then just as I approach them they walk right in front of the car!

RedOnion · 18/09/2011 23:42

Beep the horn. Rocket science, it is not. I

f it is a case of flattening just because it is there, then you can buy computer games that satisfy that urge.

ColdTruth · 18/09/2011 23:45

He should have picked it up to take home and eat

BakeliteBelle · 18/09/2011 23:45

He attempted not to hit it but it didn't move. Why on earth should he get out of the car, scrape it off the road and make pheasant soup? Maybe he doesn't like pheasant and why exactly would that make it better? Save your distress for battery animals living ghastly lives before the chop, not a free range bird without a lingering and painful death

RedOnion · 18/09/2011 23:47

Absolutely. Next time a cat runs out knock the bastard down. I mean, surely it is less hassle than cleaning it off the front of your range rover.

eekamouse2 · 18/09/2011 23:50

Actually I find flashing the lights gets their attention more than the horn, and also less annoying for the neighbours

Sookeh · 19/09/2011 00:28

YANBU. I'd be fuming if DH disregarded an animals life like that, I don't even let him kill spiders.

Nor likely to happen though, we saw a bunny rabbit baby die in our garden whilst at centre parcs. We put a blanket on it and DH insisted he stay as he didn't want it to die alone. As I walked away he started to cry BlushSad

ApocalypseCheeseToastie · 19/09/2011 00:41

Pheasents are a bit thick tho.....dps friend has a lovely imprint of a pheasent on the bonnet of his car, complete with beak !

Morloth · 19/09/2011 00:50

I would feel bad, but not much.

I don't swerve or brake hard for anything less than a kid. An instinct that I think actually saved the life of everyone in my car one night. But not sadly the wallaby that jumped out, given I was moving at 100km/h swerving isn't an option. Was messy though.

anewmotivatedme · 19/09/2011 09:56

YANBU

stealthsquiggle · 19/09/2011 10:07

YABU.

If we can get through a month without hitting a pheasant we are doing well. They cluster on the road, they don't react to cars coming, and even if you slow down they will often run in front of the car at the last minute. Yes we do try and avoid them - because I don't want to kill something if I can help it, because every one squished is less revenue for our neighbours, and because they break bits of the car (parking sensors particularly vulnerable) - but when you do hit them, there is really no point in beating yourself up.

If you swerve or break and cause an accident you will be 100% liable.

Oh and of course they are not raised in battery conditions - what a ridiculous thing to say.

TawnyGrisette · 19/09/2011 10:28

Yes pheasants are spectacularly stupid (my parents live on a shooting estate, and spend most of the year trying to get the bloody things out of the garden), but they've managed to live in the country for many many years without hitting one, and I've never hit one either, despite seeing them and avoiding them on the road very frequently. Of course sometimes it's inevitable, but once a month? Really? Hmm If you are aware of what they're likely to do, then I find that if you slow down then you don't hit them.

If you brake hard and someone goes into the back of you, as far as I'm aware they are at fault. You shouldn't drive so close behind someone that you risk hitting them if they brake. Hmm

stealthsquiggle · 19/09/2011 10:34

unless you are proposing that I creep around every blind corner at 5mph (thus quadrupling my journey time to anywhere) then yes I will still occasionally hit them.

Vallhala · 19/09/2011 10:34

Pheasants do breed in the wild of course. But those who claim that there's no such thing as intensive pheasant breeding might perhaps have a look at this.

Pheasant breeding.

CogitoErgoSometimes · 19/09/2011 10:45

YABU.... Doesn't the Highway Code specifically recommend not avoiding animals on the roads? Having known someone that totalled their car dodging a pheasant, I can see why.

mummymccar · 19/09/2011 10:50

Did anyone else read 'pheasant' as 'peasant'? I came on here quite riled up and expecting a completely different debate.

YANBU - your husband was being quite callous to be honest. Yes, pheasants are stupid and slow to move but unless you were on the way to the hospital or similar then he had the time to wait a few more seconds for it to move.