I've saved another bird 😂😂

[gbb]

It's best to create some distance with those types i find. I mean yes by all means still be civil but we don't need that kind of negativity in our lives 😂😂.

Perhaps I'm a little more 'understanding' (if that's the right word) because I was murderous little shoot as a kid.

I've often looked back and wondered why, what the F was the point (and there wasn't any, long since realised that) of killing stuff with air rifles, killing bees, killing birds and taking 'pleasure' doing it.

As a kid in a RAF family, several things...
Dad was often away for a year at a time, not having a father figure means you lack guidance.
Because there were few boundaries, we were pretty free to do what we wished , add mixing with other kids pretty much the same, it's a recipe that doesn't bode well for wildlife. Ferreting shooting, snaring, we did it all.

But, the wake up moment for me was shooting a rabbit and not killing it, I knew in that instant I'd condemned it to a slow painful end and I felt awful for the first time at around 15 years old. All the animals and birds, wtf for ? How ferkin stupid, i was quite hard on myself (and you can probably tell I'm still angry with myself 50 years later)

So I know we're all not perfect (barring some of us of course who never harboured such deeds) and that drives my personal reaction, who am I to criticise ?

The fella in question with the gull, I worked with him for 20 years, was friends (still am, just rarely see each other now) for a lot longer...this was a one off thing i witnessed, he didn't appear to be a raging psycho so you shrug your shoulders, let him know your thoughts and let it be.
I try not to judge people, who am I to do that ?

 

[gbb]

It's small kindnesses like this that contribute to the overall wellness of society.

Sadly, occasionally, those small kindnesses don't go as planned. Twice, ive saved a spider and once a moth from inside the house, released them outside through a window...to see a bird descend and immediately eat the poor, previously safe, creature..
Oh bugger...

 

[SpokeyDokey]

Any person who causes suffering to another creature and enjoys seeing its agony is a sick B. No exceptions.

 

[Accy cyclist]

Sadly some people really do lack empathy, they can be perfectly alright in every other sense but that. I had a long term friend/ former colleague like that, perfectly nice fella, except when he was fishing.
He once bragged he caught a gull that tried to steal what was on the hook, it got caught in it's throat or bill...and he guffawed while he told us he was tugging it up and down in the air.
Personally, I tend to accept we're all less than perfect in one way or another so while it was cruel, nothing I can do other than tell him as a friend it was cruel...and move on. You lose too many friends if you banish them for something you don't like about them. (There's probably something about me other people don't like too

Just my way of doing things / opinion

You're not alone. I have people like that in my family... and I've been out with guys who showed their true colours like that. You can't choose family eh? Boils my p***.

He sent me a 'I left it still alive, but it looked like it was old, so it would've probably died from natural causes anyway' message, like that justified his actions! I think he's unhinged, as they say!

 

[buggi]

Perhaps I'm a little more 'understanding' (if that's the right word) because I was murderous little shoot as a kid.

I've often looked back and wondered why, what the F was the point (and there wasn't any, long since realised that) of killing stuff with air rifles, killing bees, killing birds and taking 'pleasure' doing it.

As a kid in a RAF family, several things...
Dad was often away for a year at a time, not having a father figure means you lack guidance.
Because there were few boundaries, we were pretty free to do what we wished , add mixing with other kids pretty much the same, it's a recipe that doesn't bode well for wildlife. Ferreting shooting, snaring, we did it all.

But, the wake up moment for me was shooting a rabbit and not killing it, I knew in that instant I'd condemned it to a slow painful end and I felt awful for the first time at around 15 years old. All the animals and birds, wtf for ? How ferkin stupid, i was quite hard on myself (and you can probably tell I'm still angry with myself 50 years later)

So I know we're all not perfect (barring some of us of course who never harboured such deeds) and that drives my personal reaction, who am I to criticise ?

The fella in question with the gull, I worked with him for 20 years, was friends (still am, just rarely see each other now) for a lot longer...this was a one off thing i witnessed, he didn't appear to be a raging psycho so you shrug your shoulders, let him know your thoughts and let it be.
I try not to judge people, who am I to do that ?

I don't think there is really any excuse for cruelty when you're an adult though. Adults always know when they do something inherently wrong.