Kids chasing pigeons and ducks

[Aveno432]

Yet another day of seeing children chasing ducks with the parents doing fuck all to stop them. This was even worse in that the parents were both filming the two kids on their phones and obviously finding it funny and cute. Since when is terrifying animals funny? I see it regularly with pigeons and ducks and I'm so sick of it.

Aibu to think it's animal cruelty?

Pigeons and gulls are completely unfazed by being scattered, be it by a vehicle, a bike, a dog whatever. Their natural instinct is to move, so they are not being scared.
That being said its crap parenting to allow your children run at and ‘scare’ animals for a shits and giggles,

I would never let my kids do this. They have always been taught to respect animals. I don’t know what these parents are thinking, allowing such awful behaviour.

Pigeons are fair game.

Ducks, no, especially if they’re with their bairns.

100%!

They are domesticated birds that we've abandoned. I find their calls soothing. It's disgusting to call a creature 'vermin'. Who decides? Yes I probably have rats living in my garden ( never seen one but have seen holes.) They don't bother me.

I’ve never been able to get myself worked up about this and am surprised that others do.

Hateful little fuckers. I know exactly what type of feckless parents they have.

Try eating your pie without letting the birds at it. I seem to be able to manage it by covering up my chips when I'm eating. And shooing a seagull off your food is not the same as allowing children to harass birds.

Can both animals and children not matter?

I would rather teach a child to be kind than let them have their way and chase an animal, any animal.

I grew up by the sea, never had any problems with seagulls - till I went to St.Ives. Some terrifying evil fuckers there.

They're not evil - just entitled. 'Twas their beach before we all turned up en masse, after all. As far as they see it, a bit of free food is fair rent.

I don’t think chasing is a big problem. This is literally what animals do to each other in the wild. This is precisely why birds have evolved to fly.

However, I stop my children from doing it, loudly and performatively. Not because I am worried about the birds but because I know from mumsnet that some people get upset by it. Obviously throwing any object at birds is unacceptable.

I wouldn’t be happy with duck chasing because they’re so nervy and easily spooked plus the racket!!

Pidgeons…. I swear they antagonise people! So I really didn’t have an issue with my young children taking a run at them, especially given seconds later they return to precisely the same spot

Victim blaming! How very dare you. A child chasing off a threatening seagull is not harassment, it is defence. I previously said I do not like the chasing of pigeons and ducks, neither of which are predatory pie stealers.

You REALLY didn't take the loss of that pie well 😂

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cornwall-57886909

Unfortunately then you have people who feel justified doing things like this.

100%, this. Spotters: oooh, an isolated victim, ripe for attack. Fly-byers: yep, all exits clear, it's a definite 'attack, attack, attack'. Distractors: oooh, look at me walking menacingly towards you so you don't see my mate about to swoop from behind. Attacker: ha, ha, sucker!

They recruit new gang members every season. Evil! Spawn of the devil.

@aberamagold Unfortunately then you have people who feel justified doing things like this.

That's awful. Cruel.

My only retaliation has been a wave of the fist and a few choice words before paying attention to the bleeding wound and scratches.

Can you tell? Am I that obvious? 😂

This really annoys me. I see it frequently in the town centre that visit regularly. The parents do absolutely nothing,just stand there smiling indulgently at them (when they're not too busy staring at their phones).

To be fair, it would be a brave kid that chased a seagull. Hard bastards, seagulls.

My DH is still salty (scuse the pun) about the Great Fish Theft in Whitby about a decade ago.

For the purists, it wasn't a pie the seagull stole, it was a lovely genuine, created and baked on the premises Pengenna Cornish Pasty. For those that know, they will realise this must have been a couple of years ago, before my favourite pie place closed down in St Ives (and I refuse to travel to Tintagel). Hold a seagull-centred grudge for years? Moi? Yep! I'm 'with' your DH and his saltiness around the Great Fish Theft. St Ives seagulls must go on holiday to Whitby.

I can genuinely understand your pain. A good pasty is a thing of beauty.
If it helps, I saw a Greater Blackback gull pinch someone's half lobster at the ferry terminal in Oban. And that was twenty years ago and I bet they're enraged every time they remember.