Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Deliberately running over frogs with a lawnmower

78 replies

SlinkyMalinkyy · 24/04/2026 09:33

When I was with my ex he saw no issue if there was a frog/frogs on the lawn he would deliberately run it over with the lawn mower with the kids watching. He would laugh while doing it. The first time he did it I saw the frog on the lawn and I thought it would be nice to show the kids, teach them about frogs maybe take it to a local park/lake. DH hacked it to bits! 😭 His excuse was that he had always seen his grandfather do this and it was no big deal. MIL got the kids involved in pouring boiling water over ants too. So any attempts to foster empathy for living things was over ridden.

Kids are older now but he still does this. It seems unnecessarily cruel to me and teaches the children a lack of empathy for living things.

AIBU in thinking this is not normal especially in front of children? It was part of a wider pattern of problematic behaviour. No frog is safe! 🐸

OP posts:
TheChosenTwo · 24/04/2026 09:36

That’s absolutely awful, what a sick bastard. When dh finds one (we live right behind a big lake) he calls us all out to see it and then we try and get it to hop back towards the fence it must have hopped under. Usually with quite farcical results but Jesus Christ to masochistically run it over as a laugh is cruel.
and yes I do eat meat before someone says it’s no different.

DailyRitual · 24/04/2026 09:37

He sounds like a fucking psychopath. I leave a few patches of shady unmown grass in our garden because it’s where frogs like to hang out.

Villanousvillans · 24/04/2026 09:39

That’s just awful. Definitely psychopath behaviour.

PedanticPrincess · 24/04/2026 09:39

Disgusting behaviour! A life is a life, no matter how small. I won’t even squash bugs or spiders!

IsawwhatIsaw · 24/04/2026 09:41

We have a small pond, there are so many frogs and tadpoles in there at the moment and I like to watch them.
i can’t get my head around someone doing this . Deliberately killing wildlife for fun.

ChequerToRed · 24/04/2026 09:41

Thank fuck he’s your ex.
What an absolute headcase, those poor, lovely frogs.

Shoxfordian · 24/04/2026 09:42

He's cruel - and I'd be surprised if it was only to frogs. Are you still together?

Mapletreelane · 24/04/2026 09:44

Surely this can't be true? So many red flags what a cruel vile and sick person. Surely someone who does this would exhibit other awful behaviour. You seem to trivialise it as well with your last sentence. I wouldn't let him anywhere near my kids.

I don't think this is true. If my partner did this it would make me feel so sick I couldn't go near them ever again.

EmeraldRoulette · 24/04/2026 09:46

Christ

Where has he hidden the human bodies? I'm not even joking.

BTW, I love frogs. I don't see a lot of them these days. The nearest lake doesn't seem to have them. We do have swans and geese and stuff so maybe that's a bit too much for the frogs? Maybe they're hanging out a bit that's not accessible to the public.

SlinkyMalinkyy · 24/04/2026 09:47

Thanks everyone. He was cruel in other ways which is why I left but this seemed particularly cruel especially as he seemed to enjoy hacking them to bits and in front of our kids. Unfortunately the kids now display a lack of empathy towards living things like ex as he always undermined me, I keep trying to teach them empathy and compassion though.

OP posts:
Quine0nline · 24/04/2026 09:49

Does it still have access to your children? It does not deserve to, if it does.
There is a clear correlation between abusing animals and abusing humans.

Please distance yourself and your children from it.

SlinkyMalinkyy · 24/04/2026 09:50

Mapletreelane · 24/04/2026 09:44

Surely this can't be true? So many red flags what a cruel vile and sick person. Surely someone who does this would exhibit other awful behaviour. You seem to trivialise it as well with your last sentence. I wouldn't let him anywhere near my kids.

I don't think this is true. If my partner did this it would make me feel so sick I couldn't go near them ever again.

Edited

I’m not trying to trivialise it, I promise. I found it awful but his excuse was he saw it growing up and thought it normal. There was other awful behaviour which is why I left him. He did say once that he thought he might be a psychopath but then backtracked as he said I would probably use that as a weapon against him.

OP posts:
Luckyingame · 24/04/2026 09:50

Fuck me.
I probably get deleted, but how about running over HIM? 😳
I don't use a mower, cut with a scythe and thought the frogs would be faster than the machine?
I mean, as a kid I was able to catch a frog, but now it leaps very quickly (and is slippery). 😁
What a bastard, how unnecessary.

SlinkyMalinkyy · 24/04/2026 09:51

Quine0nline · 24/04/2026 09:49

Does it still have access to your children? It does not deserve to, if it does.
There is a clear correlation between abusing animals and abusing humans.

Please distance yourself and your children from it.

He was abusive towards me, he was very nasty.

OP posts:
Alwaysthesameoldstory · 24/04/2026 09:52

You say he is still doing this.
Have you reported him because what he is doing is animal cruelty and a wild life crime.
Report him to the police and/ or the RSPCA or similar organisation.

I feel really distressed reading this.

BauhausOfEliott · 24/04/2026 09:54

That's one of the most disturbing things I've ever read on here.

FrenchandSaunders · 24/04/2026 09:54

psychopathic behaviour

FrenchandSaunders · 24/04/2026 09:55

There's a little sign in a nearby village asking motorists to slow down for frogs.

I bet he'd speed up.

Pinkgin00 · 24/04/2026 09:55

He sounds evil, and a bit of a psychopath to be honest! Not normal behaviour at all.

PizzaPowder · 24/04/2026 09:55

This is how serial killers start!

Fuckitydoodah · 24/04/2026 09:58

What a sick bastard.

I think there's something deeply disturbing with someone who can do that.

I hope karma catches up with him.

Pinkgin00 · 24/04/2026 10:00

PizzaPowder · 24/04/2026 09:55

This is how serial killers start!

Yes often true. Definitely a psychopath. OP needs to try and undo some of the damage now and teach to kids to be kind to living creatures

CtrlCctrlVForTheRestOfMyLife · 24/04/2026 10:00

Psychopath and I mean that in the pathological sense. Isn't purposeful cruelty to animals one of the early signs or something?

I think we all treat animals quite shabbily in one way or another but most of us do it because we just don't care enough. I do think that is different to actually taking pleasure in the suffering of an animal or not doing even the smallest thing to avoid killing one. I think you will have to work extra hard to teach your kids otherwise.

AnnaNotherOne · 24/04/2026 10:01

What a cunt.

DustyMaiden · 24/04/2026 10:02

That’s evil .

Swipe left for the next trending thread