What should I have done in this situation ?

We were waiting at a bus stop in Eastbourne, there were a few young herring gulls about, as they do wandering across the road, this is a bus and taxi only area.
One particular young gull was happily exploring while his mother tried to get him off the road.

a few bus drivers waited as he moved out of the way, but then one bus driver came round the corner, slowed a little he looked at the bird, waited a bit and I actually saw him shrug his shoulders and then drove forward, completely popping the bird into a mush on the road, and then proceeded to pull into the bus stop and get his news paper out.

I was enraged and went over to his window and knocked on there saying I saw you blatantly run over that young seagull...now his response I can't type on a public forum, basically included f, c and w words abusive to me, its only a f'in seagull, told me to f off or would do the same to me if I didn't, f off...

I haven't been able to remove this scene from my mind since it happened, I feel I should have rushed over and saved the gull...what should I have done ?

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  • How awful >:(

    It's natural to think 'I should have done something' but you couldn't have guessed the driver was going to do that (no decent person would EVER do that) so try not to give yourself a hard time. The driver broke the law by deliberately killing a protected bird (and I'm pretty sure it's not very legal to angrily threaten to kill a person!). If you got any recorded evidence you could go to the police. If not you could report the incident to the bus company and hopefully at the very least he'll get a dressing-down.

  • Hi C,this is so sad but there is nothing you could have done and you really should not feel guilty at all.Intervening would have scared the bird anyway and certainly upset the mother.You could not be sure it wouldn't have come back onto the road which is a serious possibility .I can understand why you feel as you do, witnessing such an awful sight.You gave the driver a piece of your mind and his attitude towards you was disgusting.It is he that should feel guilty.

    As hard as it is i hope you can put this to the back of your mind and move on.I really feel for you and wish you all the best.

     

     

    An optimist sees the beauty of the complete rose.A pessimist sees only the thorn .

  • I have just spotted A s post and certainly agree about complaining to the bus company for his repulsive action in deliberately killing the bird and his disgusting language too.

     

     

    An optimist sees the beauty of the complete rose.A pessimist sees only the thorn .

  • That is very very sad..and if it was me I would definatly go to the bus depot and report him for speaking to you the way he did.....

    What if you had children with you...would he of used bad language like that then?

    As for the bird.....as Sheena wrote..it may well of gone back to the road......

    I understand how you feel.......and as hard as you try that sight will stay with you...I witnessed something a long time ago.I was 13yrs old,I used to ride my bike to school.......

    One morning I was just around the corner from our home and I could hear wimpering...when I managed to work out where it was coming from it was too late....

    A double decker bus was approaching a bus stop........lying in the gutter was a westie.........

    I will not go any further..needless to see.....that traumatised me for weeks to the point I couldn't ride my bike to school anymore and I missed school for quite a while.....

    I hope you feel a little better today and DO go and report him for what he did........AND the way he spoke to you and threatened to do the same to you...........it may even warrant a call to the police........(I know....maybe a bit over the top).but this man may be an evil person and do the same to a little elderly lady/gent.............a big bully I suspect .you NEVER know.....

    THANKYOU FOR READING

    SUE and LUCKY..just call me    Mrs Early Bird.....x

    Our house operate's  soley for our animals and birds......Love me love my animals........

     

  • Hi C

    What a horrifying thing to have seen.

    Absolutely nothing you could have done, but as everyone has said you could report him to his bus depot as he definitely broke the law by killing the gull and speaking to you as he did, so if you have his bus details you could also report him to the police. 

    I had a similar experience and the police told me it was against the law but in my case I had no way of ID'ing the person so the police could do nothing.

    I hope today has been full of good, kind people for you and some wonderful wildlife 

    Jaimie 

    "out beyond ideas of right doing and wrong doing there is a field. I will meet you there"   Rumi

  • Hi CCC - I'm disgusted at this man's behaviour - absolutely report this incident to the police, and his bosses - if you believe he intentionally drove at the gull to kill it he has definitely broken the law - gulls are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, which makes it a criminal offence to intentionally kill or injure a wild bird - he's also offensively  threatened yourself, which you should not be subjected to.

    Probably wouldn't hurt to go to your local papers too, but i'd discuss it with the police first. Please come back to us if you need further advice - either here, or contact our Wildlife enquiries dept on 01767 693690.

    Help swifts by letting us know what they're up to - fill in the 2010 survey

  • Hello

    I just wanted to show my support for you. How horrible to witness such a needless act of cruelty.  And then to be subject to such abuse, I really feel for you. I would definitely follow the excellent advice given. I did not know gulls were protected so I am grateful to have learned that, thank you.

    I get so sick of the response "It is ONLY a gull or it is ONLY a dog or it is ONLY a fox, humans still have such an arrogant attitude to birds and animals, I'd like to see the earth (and us) survive without them!

    Kind regards Jane.

  • Liz R said:

    Hi CCC - I'm disgusted at this man's behaviour - absolutely report this incident to the police, and his bosses - if you believe he intentionally drove at the gull to kill it he has definitely broken the law - gulls are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, which makes it a criminal offence to intentionally kill or injure a wild bird - he's also offensively  threatened yourself, which you should not be subjected to.

    Probably wouldn't hurt to go to your local papers too, but i'd discuss it with the police first. Please come back to us if you need further advice - either here, or contact our Wildlife enquiries dept on 01767 693690.

    Just wanted to second this wholeheartedly - DO NOT let this bus driver get away with such despicable behaviour. He needs to be made an example of, not least to warn other that they can't just go around treating animals like disposable toys for them to do as they wish with. Not to mention speaking to you in the manner in which he did.

    Absolutely disgusting.

  • I can't add anymore. LRB has given you the most suitable advice. I hope there were no children who also witnessed this disgusting behaviour. I am so sorry that you also had to tolerate such abusive language from him. There was nothing you could have done.

  • Thanks for all your advise and nice comments, will contact the Bus company see what they have to say.

    The problem is in these situations you are quite in a state of shock when something like this happens, it seems you do everything wrong, yet a while later you have all these idea's as to how I should have handled it.

    I was also amazed at how very few people reacted to the bus driving over the poor young seagull, the area was full of people after there days shopping, groups of teens, all types of people, hardly more than a couple of people noticed or even made a comment, this made me sad.

    I started to research the seagull protection from your comments LRB, and there is a local seagull rescue

    http://www.seagullrescue.co.uk

    I have contacted them also, but I was shocked to read the amount of shootings and also other incidents of seagulls being run over, what is going on in this world.

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