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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

AIBU to think children shouldn't be allowed to scare animals?

89 replies

ButtercreamIcing · 17/08/2016 20:44

I am in a seaside town.

I constantly see children (not tiny ones, but 8 and above) running at flocks of baby seagulls and groups of pigeons to make them panic and scatter.

Not once have I seen a parent step in and explain that it's unkind to scare animals while they're peacefully feeding.

The other day I even saw two little boys throwing stones at baby seagulls and actively trying to hit them. I told them to stop, and the boys asked "why?" so I said that they wouldn't like it if someone bigger threw stones at them.

I think being kind to vulnerable creatures (or at least not actively nasty), especially fledgelings and babies, is an important thing to foster in kids.

AIBU?

OP posts:

Atenco · 18/08/2016 01:42

I think there are two categories of children who behave badly to animals, the normal ones whose parents never taught them to have empathy for animals, but are not evil, just thoughtless and uneducated and the other ones, who grow up to be dangerous criminals.

orangebird69 · 18/08/2016 02:04

Wow. Surprised at the responses on this! Yanbu op. Really irritates me. And I'll tell any kid off I see doing it.

kali110 · 18/08/2016 02:13

No it is not fucking harmless, it's cruel
Atleast majority if people on here are bringing up their kids to respect animals.

44PumpLane · 18/08/2016 02:29

YANBU- I hate when kids bother animals.

I was once walking the dog on the common where I live and there were a bunch of kids (early teens I'd guess) shouting and throwing stones at some of the cows- I was quite far away but could see what they were doing so changed course to go over to tell them to stop. However before I got there the cows had all banded together (as they had older calves to protect) and had ended up turning on the kids and scaring them so much the kids had retreated behind some wire fencing around a tree and were effectively trapped.

The kids saw me, started shouting over to me for help and I promptly let them know that this is what's called Karma. I carried on walking my dog (intending to swing back and help after the end of the dog walk in about 40 minutes, but by the time I'd come back the cows had let them go)!

I hope that taught them a lesson to be honest.

Just to add- I wasn't worried about their safety at all, they were safe behind the dance and the common where I live is surrounded by houses and very heavy foot traffic so it wasn't like they would be stranded for days if I didn't help.

EttaJ · 18/08/2016 02:37

YANBU and it is absolutely unacceptable. Poor parenting and horrible children. Anyone that says or thinks it's harmless is a shit parent at best. Actually make that a shit person generally. If I see it , I tell the child off and then the parents.

Atenco · 18/08/2016 06:17

It's actually great fun to teach a child to be quiet and observe animals, to teach them that animals are naturally wary of us and if we don't frighten them we can learn a lot.

honknghaddock · 18/08/2016 06:31

I would never allow ds to run at animals but I cannot be sure he wouldn't make a grab at an animal that is within his reach. He doesn't understand speech so I cannot do explanations with him. This is why it annoys me when people allow there dogs ( I can't think of another animal this would apply to) to get too close.

MapleandPear · 18/08/2016 06:37

I agree, OP. Though admit to flapping at a seagull (as an adult) to get them to think again about stealing our chips. I like seagulls, but they are not having our chips.

DisneyMillie · 18/08/2016 07:30

We went to the Tower of London recently and there were 2 girls of about 9 trying to kick pigeons whilst their parents stood unconcerned. I told the children off 😳.

Parents later pushed past a huge queue of people as they obviously couldn't bother waiting to see the Crown Jewels - suddenly saw where kids got their horrid attitudes.

myownprivateidaho · 18/08/2016 07:42

Hmm. I remember doing this as a child. I haven't turned out to be an animal torturer. I think I would stop my child doing it, for the reasons given on this thread. But at the same time, I'm not convinced that scaring off a bird is on a level with causing pain to them. Wild animals are skittish and have an instinct to retreat from sudden movements - I don't think that the feeling a bird gets when a human runs at it is the same feeling you would get if a human ran at you, for example. It's hard to know whether you can even characterise the feeling a bird gets in this situation as negative.

Justanothernumber2 · 18/08/2016 07:45

Then if you feel it's just a bit of fun for the birds can you accept its anti social given that feral pigeons tend to be in crowded towns and cities and a child stamping near them causes them to flap up in a panic and towards other people?

myownprivateidaho · 18/08/2016 07:48

I didn't say that I feel it's a bit of fun for the birds. I'm saying that it's difficult to know what an animal's experience of its own instinctive behaviour is. And that the animal's experience isn't necessarily analogous to a human's experience.

ImogenTubbs · 18/08/2016 07:50

I agree with you OP. DD is three and I had been wondering if I was just uptight as I seem to be the only person who thinks this is a horrible thing to do. We were in a city square the other day and DD went to chase after some pigeons - I told her not to, explaining that it would scare them and was unkind. Bless her, she then spent ten minutes going up to other toddlers who were chasing them to tell them to stop! Fell on deaf ears though. I can't understand why people think this is ok. Pigeons may be pests, but they are still creatures!

Justanothernumber2 · 18/08/2016 07:50

In regards to something a lot bigger charging at you, an animals feelings are definitely similar to that of a humans.

Veterinari · 18/08/2016 07:52

I hate this behaviour - it's really disrespectful. And it can be dangerous. Several times over the years I've had to stop children from chasing my dogs whilst their clueless parents stand on and watch. I assume they were probably 'trained' on pigeons!

Any parent that thinks it's ok for kids to chase animals is lacking in compassion, and potentially encouraging their child in dangerous behaviour.

ImogenTubbs · 18/08/2016 07:53

Sir, I am vegetarian actually, but eating animals is entirely different from taunting them for fun. I have no issue in principle with the idea of people eating animals. I choose not to do it myself and have major issues with the way the meat production industry is run (and dairy actually, tbh), but that's not what we're talking about here.

myownprivateidaho · 18/08/2016 07:55

In regards to something a lot bigger charging at you, an animals feelings are definitely similar to that of a humans.

I just don't agree that it's possible to know this. If I'm eating my lunch, I will shoo away pigeons, flies, wasps... Obviously, you do this my making a big movement in a way that "scares" the animal so it goes off. I find it hard to say that the animal's experience of this fear is the same as a human's would be if I frightened them away from me.

imjessie · 18/08/2016 08:02

I always tell my son not to chase pigeons and I also say very loudly not to do it ..( pa I know ) ... My son has sn and is non verbal and yet he understands and displays empathy with animals .. It's not hard to teach children right and wrong !

Justanothernumber2 · 18/08/2016 08:06

Shooing animals wanting food away from you is totally different to allowing your child to charge up to them and/or stamp at them.

As I've said, lets say that the birds have no feelings at all. They don't feel fear, pain, panic or distress.

Can you accept its STILL highly anti social?

davos · 18/08/2016 08:12

We always taught our kids to treat all animals the same. You wouldn't run up to a group of dogs and scare them off for no reason. So don't do it to birds.

Although I have chased off birds that were trying to eat the kids food. The birds in Disney world Florida were a nightmare. You couldn't buy a hotdog without one swooping down and pinching in, one year. They were getting quite aggressive.

Thankfully when we went back 3 years ago that seemed to have stopped.

honknghaddock · 18/08/2016 08:20

Imjessie- My son is disabled and non verbal and doesn't understand animals. He is not allowed to chase after animals but grabbing at something close is sometimes impossible to stop. Since 'wild' animals naturally keep there distance it is never an issue with things like seagulls.

Snowwhiteandrosered · 18/08/2016 08:23

YANBU. I live in a town where there are lots of pigeons and seagulls and I hate it when a flock of pigeons flap in my face. I was in a churchyard once and saw a child chase a squirrel so they could stroke it . Parent just looked on proudly. An ex bf once tried to chase some ducks and nearly picked it up. I promptly ditched him after that as I felt it was cruel and a red flag.

DailyFailAteMyFish · 18/08/2016 08:28

I was in the zoo the other day and a whole family grouo was screaming at the lions to try to 'scare them'.
Assholes.
My younger ds chases the occasional pigeon, but pigeon are vermin. He would also be allowed to chase rats away. All other animals are treated with empathy and respect.

DailyFailAteMyFish · 18/08/2016 08:29

Also the child who tried to kick a free roaming peacock.
Who does that? I told him the peacock has a tremendously strong bite and would take him arm off (giant lie but meant he backed off). The parents were nowhere to be seen.

honknghaddock · 18/08/2016 08:32

Peacocks can be a nightmare with ds. He is desperate to grab their feathers. We have to keep a wide berth of any that we see.

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