To think ds wasn’t doing anything wrong?

[TrenchArse]

At the zoo and eating a picnic in the play area. Seagulls are an absolute nightmare at the zoo for swooping your food, especially in this playground as it’s right by the ice cream hut. Eating and chatting and every so often a seagull or a peacock gets a bit too close so my 6yo was standing up, taking a couple of steps towards it, clapping at it and sitting back down and carrying on eating.

Woman walks past and says loudly to her toddler “remember how nasty it is to chase birds. Only horrible children chase birds and if you see anyone do it you must tell me so I can tell the zookeeper, alright?” whole pointedly glancing at ds. This causes both myself and my sister to crack up laughing because it was so ridiculous how passive aggressive she was being. That was probably a bit mean on our part, to be fair.

But was ds doing anything wrong in shooing the birds away? He wasn’t chasing them or trying to catch them, he was literally just taking a couple of steps towards them and clapping to shoo them away from our picnic.

Your child wasn't doing it but imo she'd right, I hate seeing small children running at pigeons in the street, no need for that.

@Finfintytint

I’d have clapped hands and told her to “shoo”.

🤣🤣🤣🤣

Love this and only second post in.

I live by the coast and we've always been taught not to encourage seagulls to forage for our picnics or feed them because it encourages them.

So I don't think he was doing anything wrong.

Haha where I live if you didn't shoo seagulls away you would never get more than a mouth full of your picnic! she was being ridiculous

@Finfintytint I wish I’d had the presence of mind to think of doing that

It was very much aimed at ds. We were the only other ones in the park and she was very pointedly looking at ds and saying it loud enough to ensure I heard. It was Paignton Zoo where the gulls are absolutely ferocious. I’ve never had the peacocks bothering us before but they’re actually quite big and intimidating so was glad when ds took the initiative to shop them away too.

If she was that bothered about animal welfare, the zoo probably isn't the place for her anyway.

Those fuckers have picked up small pets including a little dog that was carried off and out to sea - never found as far as I can recall.

I don't like to see kids deliberately chasing, oining and frightening birds in their own space and doing it for no reason than to be little shits but seagulls are an absolute menace.

I'd have leaned in and said to her child in the most patronising grown up voice "You wanna see what they do to on active runways to stop birds from being absolutely TWATTED into oblivion by a 747's engine. If you see that, make sure you let your Mummy know right away"

Can someone explain what the issue with children running after birds is? Isn’t it just an amusing activity for the children/neither here nor there for the birds, who don’t know if it’s Christmas or Tuesday? I was out for lunch with friends once with a large open space and birds and the father (with much older children) encouraged my DS to chase the birds. Kept him busy for about 30 mins, tired him out and I never thought anything of it 😳 surprised to hear it’s an issue. Although parents are judged for everything I suppose.

Btw YANBU in your situation YADNBU, what a loon.

Some people are just strange!
A lady threatened to smack my son because he clapped at a pigeon ffs.
She then got upset when I told her I would do more than clap at her if she didn't stfu 🤬

Can someone explain what the issue with children running after birds is? Isn’t it just an amusing activity for the children/neither here nor there for the birds, who don’t know if it’s Christmas or Tuesday?

It terrifies the birds. That's why they fly away. They think they're being attacked, possibly with the potential to be killed by a predator. Just because they're birds it doesn't mean they aren't sentient. It's very far from something to 'amuse the kiddies'.

Easter 1994 Folkestone beach. I was trying to look cute in front of a group of lads I was attacked and mugged by a fucking squad of hench roadmen seagulls for my chip cone.
Honestly I was traumatised.
Clap at the fuckers

Chuck a bit of bread their way and they'll soon be off chasing after it (the seagulls, not the twatty woman and her brat) 🤣🤣

She's a nut. I'd shoo any animal/bird away that was after my food. Seagulls can handle themselves just fine. She's a nut. (Same type of buttery that suggests we shouldn't kill rats infesting out homes or shoo cats off our gardens.

@Finfintytint

I’d have clapped hands and told her to “shoo”.

I love this! Absolutely!! 😂😆👍🏼

@Georgeskitchen if I did that it would be like a scene from The Birds . Even chucking a couple of little bits of bark from the ground to try and make them back off made half a dozen more swoop down.