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.

Would it be antisocial to chase away rats?
Well, my name might be a giveaway that I'm biased, but wild rats are basically squirrels with bad PR.

Trying to keep them out of your house, sure, but chasing them for fun would be very cruel.

My 6 year old was practicing his wildlife stalking techniques yesterday (he loves Steve Backshall) by slowly and calmly approaching pigeons to see how close he could get. Obviously they flew off eventually but I can't be too concerned about a pigeon bring scared.

Are we talking about toddlers screaming and throwing things at the birds? Or just running over to them? Obviously screaming and throwing isn't nice and I would tell them off for that, but I wouldn't really care about a bird being startled by a toddler running over to them. They just fly away. I think some of these responses are a bit over the top.

My garden is always full of local wild birds because I keep chickens, so they come to steal their feed. I don't mind this, I just buy extra feed. I startle these birds when I open my back door, when I say hi to the chickens, when I hang my washing out, when I now my lawn, when I bang on the window to stop the chickens from pecking each other... they seem to cope with it and come back a minute later to continue about their business.

@Ratalie

Would it be antisocial to chase away rats? Well, my name might be a giveaway that I'm biased, but wild rats are basically squirrels with bad PR.

Trying to keep them out of your house, sure, but chasing them for fun would be very cruel.

We have a squirrel who visits our garden. Well he digs holes in the lawn, buries things and then forgets where he put them when he comes back and has to dig five more holes looking for said item. I often think how he's basically just a rat living in a tree. Except maybe a bit more daft.

Are we talking about toddlers screaming and throwing things at the birds?

The thread is about and adult encouraging a child to chase birds for fun. Not a toddler being a toddler, or inadvertent startling.

@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.

They don't mind it based on what?

Flight is incredibly metabolically demanding and often a stress response. It's something that birds don't do unless there's an evolutionary reason - food finding, mate finding or predator escape.

Predator escape is stressful - they wouldn't be flying away if there wasn't an associated fear response.

I wonder if the parents who let their toddlers chase birds are the same parent that let them run up to strange dogs and harass pet cats.

After all if you're encouraging a child's pleasure in harassing animals then where do you draw the line?

@ErrolTheDragon

Are we talking about toddlers screaming and throwing things at the birds?

The thread is about and adult encouraging a child to chase birds for fun. Not a toddler being a toddler, or inadvertent startling.

It’s not something I would do myself, but if they are at the seaside about to eat lunch, I can see why they would do this. Unfortunately, many birds will become quite aggressive for food when they see it.

Thoughts on approaching birds rather than ‘scaring’ them?
My toddler wants to stroke every animal we see (including a long saga with a housefly recently) so I let her walk up to birds who invariably fly or hop away but don’t let her run or scream. Luckily for me she’s never successfully stroked a pigeon.

I also let her pick daisies and dandelions from the park and our garden. She does know not to pick other flowers when I tell her though.

Am I raising an ecological hell hound?!

@ForkedIt

Thoughts on approaching birds rather than ‘scaring’ them? My toddler wants to stroke every animal we see (including a long saga with a housefly recently) so I let her walk up to birds who invariably fly or hop away but don’t let her run or scream. Luckily for me she’s never successfully stroked a pigeon.

I also let her pick daisies and dandelions from the park and our garden. She does know not to pick other flowers when I tell her though.

Am I raising an ecological hell hound?!

No but it's worth teaching her not to approach any animal without permission - it can be stressful for them and potentially dangerous for her.

Oh come on. Can't you find something more sinister to get annoyed about? Little kid chasing birds at the seaside? I bet kid got bored of the activity after 30 seconds. No harm done: it's not like they're ever going to catch the bloody bird is it. And for the poster who said kids can't pick daisies? What's next? Banning lawnmowers? Save the Daisies

My mum would tell me to go and play marbles in the middle of the road! I'd take it as just a phrase to tell their daughter to go and entertain herself.

People seriously think it's ok to tell someone else's child off for chasing a bird!

I agree OP, I would never let my children chase birds or do anything unkind to animals or insects. Theres just no need for it. I think teaching children to respect nature is a good thing. Theres enough horrible things in the world right now.

@theSliceOfPie yep- if you’re not prepared to tell your child off for being thoughtless and cruel then you shouldn’t be surprised if someone else does.

I think yabu. It's not like they are kicking them. Do you feel bad when your car drives along the road and scares the shit out of all the animals along the side of the road ?

Lol YABU

Anyone who grew up by the coast and has been terrorised by seagulls knows they are 90% spite and 10% feathers.

Now if your kid was throwing stones at an animal or bird, or grabbing it with the intention of hurting it, I’d say that is cruel and probably a sign of bigger problems to come. But a toddler running at a flock of seagulls (or pigeons) to make them jump in the air for 3 seconds then reform their surly mob? Nah not an issue at all imo

I agree with you OP. It's not so much that the child will be harming the birds in that moment, but more that the child will grow up thinking it's ok to be a dick to animals.

I was taught to respect animals and demonstrate empathy to things that were smaller and more vulnerable than myself.

In other words: I try not to be a dick

Is it about “being a dick” though? Small kids aren’t really capable of malice. They just want to see the pretty birds fly and experience the cause and effect of making them fly.

There is a pretty large gap between chasing the bird to see it fly (what they understand birds to do) and chasing the bird with the intention to hurt or stress it. A lot of projection going on here.

@littlejalapeno and surely that’s where the parenting comes in? Everyone knows small children won’t have the same understanding about live and let live that adults should have, and they also have really poor impulse control. That’s why you educate them on why you shouldn’t do it.

People don’t give a fuck about animals I’ve learned. I remember once witnessing a grown adult and his feral little gremlins throwing snowballs at animals at a zoo. I tried to intervene but his attitude towards me was no better. Thankfully a worker saw him and gave him a good dressing down, it probably didn’t stop him though they should have been chucked out imo.

It’s not ok to allow a child to deliberately scare any animal, from the animals perspective or the child, it could lead to a dangerous situation.

Is it about “being a dick” though? Small kids aren’t really capable of malice.

The parent was being a dick, and teaching their kid that dickishness is ok.

@JeansShirtJeansJacket

Are we talking about toddlers screaming and throwing things at the birds? Or just running over to them? Obviously screaming and throwing isn't nice and I would tell them off for that, but I wouldn't really care about a bird being startled by a toddler running over to them. They just fly away. I think some of these responses are a bit over the top.

My garden is always full of local wild birds because I keep chickens, so they come to steal their feed. I don't mind this, I just buy extra feed. I startle these birds when I open my back door, when I say hi to the chickens, when I hang my washing out, when I now my lawn, when I bang on the window to stop the chickens from pecking each other... they seem to cope with it and come back a minute later to continue about their business.

You should feed your chickens away from wild birds! We don't want bird flu to take hold again.

@SmidgenofaPigeon

Nah let them run feral like pigeons and seagulls.

It’s possible to believe you can BOTH educate children to be kind and virtuous members of society, with age appropriate understanding and impulse control, AND accept that they will test boundaries, act wild and chase the occasional pigeon without it making them a “dick”

Why can’t we just let kids be kids? It’s not healthy to look for nefarious and evil intent in the kid and their parents based on a one off observation. And no I’m not saying they shouldn’t be subject to lessons about kindness, I’m saying not everyone learns those lessons at the same speed and chasing birds doesn’t mean they are wrong’uns. I’m sure we could all do with a bit more kindness and compassion training, for flawed humans as well as for “defenceless” seagulls.

Ah, ‘let kids be kids’- the phrase most often used by parents who have no interest in enforcing any boundaries or taking the time to instil good behaviours in their children, I find.

assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/986693/biosecurity-poultry-guide.pdf