To have told these tourists to leave the swans and ducks along

[Want2727]

Prob going to be accused of being racist but here goes
Am currently on holiday in the Lake District in Bowness. As anyone who has been to Bowness knows it attracts lots of Japanese tourists which is obviously great for the area.

Was sat down on a bench feeding the ducks and swans with my sun and about 20 Japanese people walked up and started to try and grab at the ducks and swans to get a picture with them. The last straw was when a swan wandered up with 5 cygnets and one Japanese women grabs a cygnet, and picks it up for a photo. The swan started to give chase and she leaps up on a wall where the swan can’t get to her
I marched up and said in a stern voice “put that cygnet down” the poor cygnet by this time was in a right state.

She looks at me and was going to ignore me till me husband came up behind me and said to her again “put the cygnet down”. She then did. A couple of people watching clap
Her husband/partner came up to us and started shouting at us in Japanese. I just looked at him and said “the swans and ducks are to be looked at not touched it is cruel”
They all then storm off in their group towards the boats.

As we walked past the boat office 5 minutes later they are pointing at us and gesturing at us to one of the boat ticket staff. He comes over and we told him what happened and he said “it’s always happening, a duck was left lame when when a Japanese lady picked one up and then basically chucked it down once a photo has been taken.
I just want to say I know Britain people can also be dicks when it comes to animals but surley something needs to be done to let the toursts know it’s not acceptable to pick up the ducks/ swans/ geese if it keeps happening.

I also like Bowness. If you wander a bit off the beaten track you can find some lovely quiet places down by the lake

I also think the council or whoever is responsible for the land by the lake needs to put several very clear signs up in a variety of languages to leave the poor wildlife alone! So do get in touch. If you use Twitter I'm sure you'd get a lot of support via that too.
Are these visitors part of organised tours? If so then the tour organisers need to be asked to tell visitors not to touch the wildlife and how to behave around them.
I do despair of some people around animals. One that gets me is people banging on the glass/perspex on animal enclosures at the zoo or taking photos with a flash. It tells you not to but some people don't think those rules apply to them.

What horrible people. I always tell people off for this. I find kids chasing birds so infuriating it's just so mean. I always tell them not to chase the birds then tell their parents they shouldn't let their child do that. Yes I'm that person 😂 well done for saying something!

There's no way that Japanese tourists would do that so ybvu for being racist

And you know every single Japanese person do you? I think you are being racist by saying they are all the same!

I saw a Japanese tourist (I think he was Japanese) try to hug a swan in Regents Park he was being told by many to leave the swan alone - the swan pecked him in the face then spread their wings out and marched through the crowds everyone stepped back in fear and awe it was an amazing sight

Japanese tourist cried (no sympathy given)

Well done you, I would have done the same.

I think putting up a sign is a good idea. although I'd rather they were given on the spot fines and banned from the park

Animal cruelty is such a horrible thing to witness.

The town council really aren't going to be that bothered.

The birds at times are seen as a nuisance, they have to cull some species regularly to keep things under control. They don't do anything to control tourists though.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cumbria-17282645

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/03/07/swans-addicted-fast-food-have-legging-town-get-fatty-fix/

Well done, OP. I don't understand the selfie thing with animals. They're not toys. I hate to see kids chasing pigeons too and I have told kids it's cruel. Can't believe that people let their dogs attack seals.

Not racist at all. I own a Caravan at Fallbarrow and we are in Bowness every weekend. Although I have never seen any of them pick up the cygnets etc if I did I would definitely have something to say. I do however see them talking selfies with the swans, geese and ducks. It drives me crazy there should be signs. We own 2 German Shepherds and when we walk down there it goes 2 ways they run to the hills or stop and ask for photos with them. You can see a theme here they love to take photographs of anything that moves or doesn't move.

@CookPassBabtridge

I think your friend is a bit of a psychopath, who just happens to be chinese...

@FurnitureAndBackgammon I'm half Japanese so do fuck off

@want2727 this is blatantly one of those stories that is about 1/100th true and you've come running to MN for adulation. Congratulations. Hope you enjoyed it.

FurnitureAndBackgammon I'm half Japanese so do fuck off

I beg your pardon?
What have I said to offend a half Japanese person?

Gunnel- ODFOD
Despite others on this thread backing me up and saying they have seen it.

Do you know what I am half English and half Scottish but unlike yourself I can admit that there are English and Scottish people who are dicks and I have not doubt and have seen evidence that both have people who are dicks to animals
Just because you are half Japanese you are basically saying the whole Japanese race would not do this. Ok love

I don’t think anyone disagrees with confronting tourists who manhandle the wildlife.

However, and I noticed this last time I was in the UK, many people are blithely talking about “Japanese tourists” when they should be talking about Chinese tourists.

First, Chinese tourists outnumber Japanese tourists by not far off 2:1 so statistically they were most likely to be Chinese.

Second, the type of Japanese person who pays thousands for a tour of the UK is simply not the type to go taking stupid selfies holding ducks and swans. It’s just so unlikely to be near impossible. We are talking middle aged middle class housewives here, in terms of demographics.

That’s not to say that every single Japanese person treats animals with respect but the type to do that sort of thing just don’t leave Japan.

Third, Chinese tourists (obviously not all!) are renowned for this sort of thing. It’s causing trouble here in Japan too. In the recent cherry blossom season Chinese tourists were in trouble for climbing up delicate cherry blossom trees taking selfies.

Finally, I just asked my (Japanese) DH’s opinion about this and he said it couldn’t possibly be Japanese people because they are so obsessed with cleanliness that they wouldn’t dream of dirtying their hands and clothes by picking up ducks and swans. and I think he’s right

The New Forest has the same issue with people feeding and petting the ponies!

Then when 1 demands food and bites or kicks they are demanding they are dangerous and should be fenced of.

Despite others on this thread backing me up and saying they have seen it.
Do you know what I am half English and half Scottish but unlike yourself I can admit that there are English and Scottish people who are dicks and I have not doubt and have seen evidence that both have people who are dicks to animals
Just because you are half Japanese you are basically saying the whole Japanese race would not do this. Ok love
Have you noticed how many people on this thread have said Japanese people wouldn't behave in this way? There are fundamental differences between the nationalities. So yeah I can quite and will confidently say this group were not Japanese

I used to live somewhere where certain groups of people liked to eat ducks and it was known at the local park that these ducks would disappear. This was nearly 20 years ago now, but it was horrible. They werent allowed to but they hadn’t gotten caught, and the duck population would go down each year. Yuck

YWDNBU! I love the Lakes, we travel up several times a year but usually avoid Bowness because it's so busy and I get really wound up by how blinkered people are with the birds just to get some good photos! Kudos to you for sure.

OP

If you see this again make a cross with your forearms. It indicates 'no entry' or 'not allowed'.

As for whether they were Japanese, Korean,Chinese or anything else Japanese and Chinese sound totally different, I don't speak either but I can tell them apart.

Incidentally the confusion between Chinese/Japanese cultures and appearance is pretty ridiculous and ignorant.

Two completely different nations, different cultures and languages, over 2000 miles apart.

It would be like equating British culture with Moroccan culture (roughly the same distance).

It's embarrassing, the ignorance and low level prejudice on here.

But confusing Chinese and Japanese people because you're too ignorant to tell the difference is white privilege on an absolutely epic scale.

What made you think you might have been unreasonable?

How do you know they were Japanese?

How do you know they were Japanese?

She explained upthread.

Absolutely will done to you and your dh.