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

[ButtercreamIcing]

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?

Just to mix things up, I did this as a child and am vegan now my empathy circuits kicked in eventually!!

The way to discourage pigeons and other vermin is not to kick at them or chase them, it's to stop feeding them. Peregrine falcons are also a natural predator and have been introduced to some towns and cities.

Stamping at them or chasing them isn't a benign harmless act, as it flaps them towards others.

Seagulls are the exception though. They are evil bastards here, who stake out lone children and dive bomb them for crisps. They laugh in the face of being run at by children or having things chucked at them.

Being nice to seagulls is seriously frowned upon here as they are such a menace. Once you've seen a few head injuries from them you get less fond of them as wildlife.

justanothernumber as I said in the first post I responded to, I agree with the points made elsewhere on this thread and would not allow a child to do this . What I don't agree with is the idea that we can assume we know what the interior experience of a flock of birds taking flight after being startled is.

There is a world of difference between "being nice" and "deliberately seeking to antagonise, distress and cause issues for other shoppers."

And what about kids (8, 9, 10 ) year olds determinedly working their way along the breakwaters bashing barnacles and limpets, and anything else they can find, with rocks? Parents gazing on.

I told them , nicely, not to do it and got a mouthful.

YANBU. Empathy for all living things is the rule in our house. And yes, we do eat meat, locally sourced and as 'humane' as we can manage. As a PP noted up thread, killing for meat at least serves a purpose, whereas chasing and teasing animals is just annoying and cruel. Yeah, a bird can fly away from marauding a 4yo, and it probably won't be scarred for life, but that's not the point. What is the 4yo learning from the experience? Entitlement and lack of empathy

YANBU OP. I once had to roar at a couple at Fountains Abbey to stop their children from chasing ewes in lamb! They were just fondly watching as Tarquin and Arabella charged at them. I was heavily pregnant myself at the time, so I had a lot of fellow-feeling for those poor ewes might have come across as little bit scary. The parents apparently didn't realise that fat sheep in March were quite likely to have a lamb or two on board- as if it would have been OK for children to distress livestock just as long as said livestock wasn't gestating...

Only a dickhead would disagree, surely?

We have had to tell people not to be 'nice' to animals as well though - petting and feeding deer is not a good idea as it leads them to overfamiliarity then being aggressive to people, which can mean the deer are then shot. Though they are cute and I can understand the desire to interact with them.

yummymummy I am a bit bird-phobic too. I am especially unhappy around seagulls and your experience brought me out in a cold sweat. That really is the stuff of nightmares for me too.

Like you I would shoo away a bird that hopped too close if I was eating outside. We once had a very persistent robin that actually flew up and took a bite from DDs sandwich when she was trying to eat it herself.

However, the chasing at flocks of them to deliberately disturb should be strongly discouraged. Not least, as others have said, because this could mean they fly in to a passer by (me for instance!)

On the overall point of course I agree that children should be taught to treat animals with respect. I think this happened naturally when I was small because we had a family cat who stood no nonsense from anyone. She wasn't aggressive but, if upset or handled badly, she scratched. If I complained about a scratch I was usually asked what I had been doing to her to make her do it! I was never scared of cats but I did very quickly learn how to handle them kindly.

I used to do that as a child (and loved it)and my parents just left me to it. I wish that they had stopped me doing it though as now that I am grown up I feel that it is cruel.

Seagulls an pigeons wouldn't be a nuisance if people didn't amuse themselves by feeding them bread - which is bad for them, anyway.

People are so stupid. Notices all over the New Forest telling you not to approach or feed he ponies - the picnic area around Lyndhurst was full of people trying to do just that. The small child of a friend of mine was badly bitten by a deer at a NT Picnic spot - right in front of a 'do not feed the deer' notice. The deer clearly expected to be fed sandwiches and was attempting to help itself.

Nothing... same here they are a bloody menace and not allowed to cull them. We call them the rats of the sea.
Get bloody tourists feeding them (despite the signs not to) then complaining when they dont stop at a couple of chips and dive bomb them for more!

The amount of times I have wished I was tougher and just run over the damm things sauntering about in the middle of the road in town slowing traffic! They are scared of nothing not even a car!
Its worse when the chicks are born and there are dozens of them all over the road (cos they are too stupid to stay up a height out the damm way!)