Kid told to go and chase the birds

[GOODCAT]

I don't have kids, but was at the coast this morning when I overheard an adult, presume mum, tell a young girl to go and chase the birds, said in a way that meant she was to go and entertain herself by doing this.

My own parents would have told me off for this and to be kind to other living creatures.

It always annoys me when I see kids chasing birds and their parents saying nothing, but to actively encourage a kid to do so is a first.

AIBU to find it sad that this kid was being encouraged to chase birds for no other purpose than her own entertainment.

@Blossomtoes

Or do people think the birds particularly enjoy being chased?

I don’t think they mind it nearly as much as posters here seem to think. There’s a fair bit of anthropomorphism going on here.

yeah I reckon they just fly off a bit and then come back. Its probably best that birds learn to be wary of people anyway.

I think birds like crows and magpies learn who are nice people and who are ones to avoid, but most birds just scarper and then come back to their feeding ground, unharmed.

I dont think chasing birds should be encouraged, but I dont think its a terrible thing either. Little children love the whole cause and effect thing. I think its quite sweet. We are generally the ones who are throwing chips for the seagulls to swarm and catch though rather than chasing them off, and im pretty sure plenty of people dont like that either.
I tend to think people should mind their own business a bit more

@Greenrubber

I don't think chasing birds it a big deal and I say that as a vegan! My DD who is 4 knows not to hurt any animals no matter what their size or of she doesn't like them we talk alot about nature and how we can help the planet and what is bad for the planet She knows to look and not touch But... Yes she chases birds she's never going to catch them she also chases and is chased by her friends at nursery kids like to chase its not a big deal At least we are not eating them! Unless you are all vegan your all a bunch of hypocrites to talk about animal cruelty

You're vegan and clearly don't care about animal cruelty so don't try and call us hypocrites

@CherryPlumCrow

Whenever I can I do it, I have another child with me as well. No need to be nasty about kids who are quite young. And no need to point out at parents of "precious darlings".

Pigeons, magpies and seagulls can go eff themselves, so for that reason YABU.

@CherryPlumCrow

They fly away! Of course they do its very rare a bird will come and land on someone's shoulder
Or are you like a disney princess and have all the animals flock to you whilst singing beautifully?
Wild animals generally keep away from us people
I have nothing on my conscience 🤷‍♀️

Go enjoy your Sunday roast

And I’ll wager the majority of children who do this have no special needs at all beyond ignorants entitled parents who can’t be arsed to teach them otherwise, or worse still indulges every impulse.

Or just don’t share your opinion that it’s a big deal?

@Greenrubber

I don't think chasing birds it a big deal and I say that as a vegan! My DD who is 4 knows not to hurt any animals no matter what their size or of she doesn't like them we talk alot about nature and how we can help the planet and what is bad for the planet She knows to look and not touch But... Yes she chases birds she's never going to catch them she also chases and is chased by her friends at nursery kids like to chase its not a big deal At least we are not eating them! Unless you are all vegan your all a bunch of hypocrites to talk about animal cruelty

So if a child eats meat then teaching any positive behaviours towards animals is just hypocrisy?

I hate seeing kids chase the ducks, geese and swans in the park (hey even the stupid pigeons). I do chortle when they turn around and chase the kids back though. It’s just mean to scare animals.

And as for the a** who let their dogs off the lead next to the lake (where there are posters telling them to keep dogs on a lead) and encourage them to jump into the water (with all the birds) - gives me the rage.

@FindYourPorpoise

The more we teach our children to have respect for animals and the planet the better
But chasing a bird is not cruel nor is it terrorising them

It's not the same as a dog chasing a squirrel /sheep for example
The kids never going to get anywhere close to catching a bird

[quote Greenrubber]@FindYourPorpoise

The more we teach our children to have respect for animals and the planet the better
But chasing a bird is not cruel nor is it terrorising them

It's not the same as a dog chasing a squirrel /sheep for example
The kids never going to get anywhere close to catching a bird[/quote]
They could if the bird is young/old/injured/sick or spooked by something else as they try to escape.

Scaring an animal is as bad as physically harming it, just like with a human.

I must admit tho I've never seen kids chasing ducks swans etc
Or any adult encouraging them to

Go enjoy your Sunday roast

I am having a roast dinner later actually but with Quorn peppered steaks - no meat here, thanks.

But funnily enough even my meat eating friends manage to keep their children from terrorising animals. You should try it.

@girlmom21

Funnily enough a bird flew into my kitchen window about a month ago! She was interested to see it but she did not feel the urge to chase it
We watched it from far enough away to make sure it was OK as it was very startled and had froze we checked it every half an our until it finally got itself together and flew off this lasted about 2 hours

I thought I was going to have to phone the rspb

Just because she chases the odd pigeon doesn't make her a animal abuser

The only times I’ve seen children chasing birds it’s a small toddler chasing pigeons in a city square. Pigeons fly away a few metres, come down, carry on pecking for food. Small toddler wanders off / falls over own feet. It really doesn’t seem to merit the description of ‘terrorising’, for birds that live with crowds of people, city traffic etc.
I’d be more worried about the animal cruelty involved in a ham sandwich or pint of milk (and I say that as a non-vegan).

I wouldn't let my child do it but the birds I do see getting chased in public places don't seem particularly bothered. Presumably they're standing about on the ground surrounded by people in the hope of getting something to eat, and have decided the odd lift off is worth it in return. Otherwise they'd be off sitting in a tree or something.

@Greenrubber

I don't think chasing birds it a big deal and I say that as a vegan! My DD who is 4 knows not to hurt any animals no matter what their size or of she doesn't like them we talk alot about nature and how we can help the planet and what is bad for the planet She knows to look and not touch But... Yes she chases birds she's never going to catch them she also chases and is chased by her friends at nursery kids like to chase its not a big deal At least we are not eating them! Unless you are all vegan your all a bunch of hypocrites to talk about animal cruelty

I'm a vegan so no hypocrisy here.

Little children do often like to chase others and also to be chased by their friends.

Sometime children don't want to be chased. We teach them to turn around and say no. We also teach our children to stop a game if someone tells them that they don't like it.

A bird can't turn round and say no any more than it can go up to a child and ask to be chased.

As I said in a pp, when my dd was a toddler, I brought her up (as a vegan and) to respect all animals. I didn't let her chase birds.

I live on the coast so have plenty of experience of seagulls. Shooing away a bird which is trying to eat your food is completely different from chasing a bird for fun

I don’t think they mind it nearly as much as posters here seem to think. There’s a fair bit of anthropomorphism going on here.

Oh don’t be daft. It’s not anthropomorphism to suggest that chasing and startling/scaring an animal (if they were totally chilled about it, they wouldn’t fly away) isn’t the nicest thing to do.

Letting kids think being unkind to animals for entertainment is just crappy. It doesn’t matter if the animal in question is one that’s on your personal top 10 or not. Scaring something away from your chips - fair enough. Scaring it because the act of scaring it makes your kid giggle? Even if it’s a creature of very little brain indeed, that’s pretty crappy.

Anyway, a ‘we’re kind to all creatures’ rule is pretty easy for kids to understand.

YANBU. This kind of behavior really makes me angry.

Hmmm…. I meant as in a pigeon comes in The garden, she runs into the garden, the bird flies away. But yes, I should probably tie her to a post so she can’t scare the poor pigeons

My kids knew better than to do it from a very early age.
It’s unnecessary and no fun at all for the birds, plus I think it teaches kids that it’s ok to frighten animals for entertainment.

@rainbowunicorn you have made a massive leap there! As you seem so intent on treating me like an arsehole, I’ll return the favour. I meant my dog runs in the garden when she sees a pigeon and the pigeon flies away. She doesn’t go on a lead in the fucking garden. She a bloody poodle not a Rottweiler. There aren’t a lot of nests in our fenced garden with fake grass and concrete. I expect you’ll want to apologise for what you called me.

‘They fly off’ means shit all. Pigeons are flock birds and they spend lots of time on the ground because that’s where they hang out and look for their food. That’s literally what they spend most of their time doing. So it’s not ok to just harass them and scare them off from doing this. In what universe do you think that’s a kind and acceptable thing to teach your kids? That every time they fly back down to carry on with their business it’s ok to chase them away again, because it makes your kid laugh? They’re just trying to live their lives, but yeah great message to pass on to your children.

@Onehotmess

Hmmm…. I meant as in a pigeon comes in The garden, she runs into the garden, the bird flies away. But yes, I should probably tie her to a post so she can’t scare the poor pigeons

Maybe teach her to go quietly and admire the pigeon?
'Oh look there's a little bird don't run or you might scare it'.
It's really not that hard.

My kids, all teens now, will pick up a worm/snail/whatever to move out the way to stop someone treading on it and I'm proud of them for it - It's nice to be kind to creatures

Oh I just realised she's a dog 🤣😂🤣

Not unreasonable, I hate seeing children run up to birds shouting and think it’s terrible parenting. I was also brought up to be kind to animals. Don’t understand the comments ‘apart from seagulls’ and the like, it’s equally mean to scare a seagull. You can easily shoo it away gently there’s no need to purposefully scare wildlife.