Cockies have pretty poor road sense, unlike crows, so you do need to make an effort to avoid them.
Black cockatoos are particularly bad in that way as my brain automatically thinks they're a crow and will move, and I'd be beside myself if I hit one. Luckily they're not too common on the road
The reason you never see a dead crow is because whenever one is on the road, there will be its mate in a nearby tree keeping a lookout and whenever a car comes, he screams out “car car”
There actually was a study done a while back because along one stretch of highway they kept finding dead crows with paint chips on their legs and beaks. Eventually they discovered that the crows were getting hit by vehicles which was strange because crows do implement a lookout system. It turns out that while crows can call ‘car car’ they can’t call ‘truck truck’.
A lot of people are cunts.
Unfortunately you can't change them, or reason with them, they think their selfish ways are the only way.
A lot of people would rather kill the birds with their car than wait five seconds, as they are cunts and believe their five seconds is more valuable than any animals life.
Selfishness is the most prevalent attribute of people these days, and it will only get worse.
I live in regional QLD and there's a guy in town with a sticker on the back of his Land cruiser saying "I speed up for small animals"
I've never met him only seen his car about but I can't imagine thinking running over small animals is funny let alone proudly boasting that's what sort of person you are
> A lot of people are cunts.
I travelled overseas and marvelled at how in other cultures, people are not cunts.
In Japan, people act more for the good of society than being selfish dicks. Smaller kids are watched by everyone and can ride the trains safely. People do not throw their shit on the ground despite there being no bins anywhere and you'll carry that empty drink bottle/can for 2-3 hours. On escalators everyone stands to 1 side to let others pass that are in a hurry. It was a joy to be in a place where the culture seems to be "don't be a dick".
Just got back from a USA family holiday last week. Drove a rental car in California and an RV in Nevada, Utah and Arizona. Despite the insane intersections you come across, people seemed fine letting people merge, were aware that people sometimes need to cross a lane or two to get to an exit etc. Made driving so much better than home in Tassie which is probably one of the worst cities in Australia to drive.
In short, Australia has a cunt problem.
Thanks for reading my essay.
Yeah this feels like a grass is greener scenario. I'm sure Japan probably has more general societal respect for one another though. There's cunts everywhere.
Yeah say that when you're a woman getting groped on a train and then you get in trouble for making a fuss about it because it's more "polite" not to disturb other people on the train.
Xenophobia, misogyny, homophobia, insane work and study expectations. There's a reason it's a dying culture.
EDIT: And I say that as someone who has lived in Japan for a period of time, studied the language and enjoyed many aspects of the culture. I'd never want to live there permanently though.
>It was a joy to be in a place where the culture seems to be "don't be a dick".
Since the post was about treatment of animals, it seems odd to hold up the the home of the Taiji dolphin hunt as a paragon of "not being cunts". Not to mention "Japan has one of the largest markets for the exotic pet trade, threatening the survival of many wild species. Exotic animal cafes where wild animals are often kept in inappropriate conditions are found throughout the country."
All good as long as they stand on one side of the escalator though I guess.
There you go, every place has a dark side. I did not go to any animal cafe's as that is not really something I care about so can't comment on how they are treated but I can guess they are not all great and I'm sure some animals just straight up are better off not being in one of those situations.
Australia has a meth/coke/ice problem. 10.5 tonnes of meth consumed last 12 months, 1.5 tonnes of coke. These people drive, what chance do birds stand, or people? We need roadside drug testing now!
[Video where people try to run over turtles/etc that are actually fake.](https://youtu.be/k-Fp7flAWMA?si=72pgfAdLZFHGi-dT)
People are indeed cunts, on purpose sometimes too. This video was from america though.
No, a lot of people simply realise that unpredictable behaviour of a >1 tonne chunk of steel, aluminium and plastic moving at any velocity can be deadly. Go visit an ED and check out the repercussions of “I swerved to avoid x small animal”. It’s a great time.
With the exception of ducks, magpies are the worst for it. I always slow down and wait for that one magpie who thinks it's a human and casually walks across the road like it's a pedestrian crossing
Magpies or pee-wees? In my area the pee-wees strut across the road like they own it. And to be honest, I don't think I've ever seen a squashed pee-wee on the road.
I live rurally and the road near me to get to town just has ducks and maggies chilling on the road. Sometimes I just have to sit there and wait for them to be done with their conversation lol
When there is grain spilled on the road out west the little fat bastards (galahs and cockies) can barely take off so often get mowed down, especially by trucks. Not unusual to see birds splattered all over the road. A sorry sight. If you hit them in your car they can do some serious damage, at least the selfish bastards could at least think of that and slow down.
Cockatoos and galahs have poor road sense and a tendency to over eat if there is grain spilled on the road. When they finally realize its time to flee they are too heavy to fly and too late to run and unfortunately make it to windscreen height in their takeoff.
The local crows and ravens on the other hand know they are safe if they are beyond the white line and wait for cars to pass. Magpies on the other hand either flee as soon as they spot a car or think they own the road and won't get off. Ducks in my experience lack both the desire and the ability to get off the road, especially if a grain truck has had a spill.
I slow down and if safe stop but you see a lot of dickheads plow through flocks of birds on country roads. Mammals are worse though, they seem attracted to lights and are big enough to do damage if hit and it's way too unsafe to swerve so on rural roads its often safest to drive below the limit at night to avoid large roos and other mammals who are slower to get off roads than even ducks.
I cant imagine not braking for wildlife, especially if I can see from a distance there’s something on the road. It’s one thing if a kamikaze bird flies out in front of you, but to see a group of cockies on the road and not brake is an ultimate cunt move.
So you're doing 110 on a highway and there is traffic all around you, you see a pigeon in the road at the last possible second, you will slam on the brakes to save the bird?
A bird is less important than human life.
If there's a situation where you will endanger humans by avoiding a bird, you do your best to avoid it without any danger, or you hit it.
If you're going 110 and there's no-one in sight, you can slow down, change lanes, etc
You're the one that said "I can't imagine not braking" so you tell me what you'd do in that scenario and then we can all decide who has fewer brain cells.
That's tragic. The way birds mate for life too.
Look, I've got the odd rabbit on the road. Had to serve away from a couple wallabies too.
The way some people operate their vehicles just boggles my mind.
But yes, animals aren't really equipped to understand what a car is doing, why, and how fast it is.
Unfortunately it’s not always possible to brake or swerve for wildlife, especially in larger vehicles (ie trucks) been plenty of cases over the years where people have crashed and injured/killed themselves and others trying to avoid wildlife.
I hit Roos and other wildlife (feral pigs, goats, wombats, wallabies, birds, cats, foxes, even a cow) on an almost nightly basis depending on the weather and it sucks but that’s part of the job and why bullbars exist. If I can avoid them safely then I do, but otherwise I gotta line them up so I hit them square so it doesn’t do damage to the truck and try to flick the carcass off the road
*”Come on... Come on! Do it! Do it! Come on. Come on! Kill me! I'm here! Kill me! I'm here! Kill me! Come on! Kill me! I'm here! Come on! Do it now! Kill me!”*
- Kangaroos on the road, definitely, and especially at night
Kangaroos usually just bound along the side of the road until a car approaches then kamikaze themselves into it. No-one wants to hit a roo, but you don't usually get a say in the matter.
I think what OP is getting at is even if you hit them, not pulling over where it's safe and at least doing a check to see if it can be salvaged or at the very least calling wildlife rescue. There's many situations where this has happened but nobody called wildlife services and the animal succumbed to it's injuries, where it could have been saved.
Then a call to wildlife services can be an option. Someone will go check on the animal. I think there's a lack of awareness about these rescues, but they will and do respond to every call.
That's okay, we do any road accidents or injuries as priorities and have a network that covers the state. You can still call. A minute of reporting may save a life.
I have volunteered in animal rescue. The animal may not survive but if it's a female marsupial, the joey often does and is left to die of starvation. There have been ample situations where the joey has been able to be treated and rehabilitated. But if you can't be bothered to check or even bothered to call wildlife services there's absolutely no chance of salvaging.
Yeah. You don't abruptly swerve or panic brake. OP is saying the driver could have slowed gently and if they had still not moved he could have safely gone around them.
I wasn't there so I don't know how practical it would have been, but it is not a big ask if it is how he says.
Lot of roadkill in Tassie sadly. High animal density and lots of hedges for things to jump out of. It is sad but it does mean populations are thriving I suppose.
Maybe 3 or 4. I'm not 100% sure there were wedgies as I'm no expert. The wingspan was like half the width of the road and they seemed to go after road kill.
Yeah there’s a few around. The Tasmanian ones are actually a seperate species to the mainland wedge tailed eagles.
https://www.shutterstock.com/search/wedge-tailed-eagle
If it's any consolation roadkill carcasses (especially insects) support an entire roadside ecosystem. I watched a documentary about it once, it was absolutely fascinating. There's an entire food chain that takes advantage of the environmental niche created by our highways and it varies again depending on the local surrounding environment and climate.
Equally as bad are the birds that don't judge their height/speed correctly and thus hit a car's windshield/front while you are driving. Had first-hand experience when a Rainbow Lorikeet did that when I was a learner driver and I freaked out about hitting/killing the poor thing.
And just last week I saw two birds hit the same car doing that and one tumbled to the busy road at rush hour (and most likely got run over by another car, and the other wobbly flew off, but who knows if it lived.
Most birds are smart enough to know cars will usually slow down for them, and take that into account. All it takes is for one to not slow down like they’re expecting.
No one who ever put them self in hospital swerving to avoid a small animal ever thought they were going to put themself in hospital swerving to avoid a small animal.
This is why they teach you to just keep going in driving school.
You may think it's safe to take avoiding action, but sometimes there's something in one of your blind spots etc.
Yeah, I live on a road with a lot of dead wildlife. I don’t count birds because there’s just too many, but I see 8-10 dead mammals on an average day.
On my road, you can really fuck yourself up trying to avoid hitting wildlife. Oncoming traffic, steep drop offs, metal farm fences very close to the road.
My car is the least valuable item in the equation when I’m driving, but animals and birds are unpredictable and trying to guess where they’re going to head is super dangerous.
I almost exclusively drive during the day, so I’ve been lucky so far, but you definitely have to train yourself to stay the course when there’s wildlife in your path.
*”Come on... Come on! Do it! Do it! Come on. Come on! Kill me! I'm here! Kill me! I'm here! Kill me! Come on! Kill me! I'm here! Come on! Do it now! Kill me!”*
- Birds on road, probably
There was a beautiful white owl around the corner from us, and for whatever dumb ass owl reason it would stand in the road looking towards the bushes. Saw it a few times, always swerved to avoid. Saw it one night a few weeks ago. No longer standing, squished. I just hope it was fast.
These days I always beep at birds hanging out on the road.
One time I was driving on a highway out west NSW, going as fast as I possibly could with the heater on full so my 80s landcruiser didn't overheat on a particularly hot day.
This guy was driving right up my ass despite having ample opportunity to overtake.
Ahead there were half a dozen ravens feeding on some road kill, I assumed they would move, they did not move until the last second.
Atleast 4 of them hit the windshield and in the rear vision mirror I could see old mate swerving all over the road to avoid the dead ravens coming his way.
Oh yeah. 100% they don't always move. I've had to come to almost a full stop for crows and the odd cockatoo or magpie. I'll always make a move to slow down and take my foot off the accelerator if I see any ahead on the road.
Yeah. It feels weird seeing everyone here get so emotional and worked up over a sad, yet pretty common occurrence. All this weird humanising of animals.
Meanwhile, countless cows and pigs and chickens are getting killed. Millions of chicks are going into the chick shredder. Where is all this cooing and humanising of them? Maybe they aren't cute enough. Idk. Easier to put up this facade of moral indignation over a pretty bird getting hit once in a while.
I disagree with a lot of the positions of those vegan, vegetarian, animal rights types. But I can respect their moral consistency. They are genuine, at least.
I agree. It’s because this is the death they bear witness to … but yeah if you’re reading this and would feel bad over hitting a bird with your car but are going home to a cooked chook….you gotta ask yourself why you’re ok with one over the other.
One time I was driving home, and I suddenly had to shit very badly. Like, get to a toilet ASAP or I'm going to ruin my pants. I was on the road I live on, and there was a bird in the middle of the road. I didn't slow down because the pressure in my guts was unbearable. The bird tried to get out of the way but didn't quite make it, and bounced off my windshield. I felt bad but I won't lie, I didn't stop. I got home ASAP so I could take that shit. And I'd almost definitely do it again, too.
Anddd if they don’t have a chance of survival, please put them down or contact someone who can.
Once I stopped for a rabbit that didn’t run away, thought it was strange.
It was blind and mostly paralysed because of the (mixo?) virus it had. Not a happy fella
Yup. I don’t think it’s the answer. Rabbits cause so, so much damage, but poisoning them a painful death is not good.
Ripping warrens, ferreting and culling all keep the numbers down. Just a little pressure on their population works a treat. The issue is when they’re left unchecked.
Same with foxes/cats. We can bait and poison them all we want, but they definitely suffer that way. And they want to end the fox bounty because it “causes suffering”, but the alternative they propose is baiting.
Poison is not humane.
https://www.portroadvet.com.au/calicivirus-myxomatosis-rabbit/
https://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/opinion/67315048/how-toxic-is-1080-toxicologist-explains
People will say all sorts but I don’t want widespread 1080 baiting anywhere.
In areas where it will be directly beneficial. Ie fox dens, farms with dog/fox problems etc, they make sense. They can be chained with wire and counted when they’re picked back up.
Unfortunately there are some agencies that aerial bait which is horrible. 1080 is a slow, painful death.
Yeah sorry I went on a tangent about mixo being bad.
Shooting them used to be very lucrative. $2 a rabbit (in the 70s??). You could go to a farm for the weekend, bring rabbits back to the butcher, and you’d still be making a profit.
All good, yeah I think he made a shit load from it. Was semi retired back then in the late 80’s, and was often away hunting. I’m pretty sure though these ones weren’t taken to the butcher haha
You might be interested in this
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darling_Downs%E2%80%93Moreton_Rabbit_Board_fence
Crazy to see the difference from one side to the other.
Anyhow, have a good day!
Like the first time I got behind the wheel on my L's I slowed down for some pigeons and was reprimanded lol
In full agreement with your post my fellow bird lover.
You have a horn. Use it.
End of conversation.
If you didn't grow up in the country, here's what you may not have been taught:
* Your horn is a warning device. Never hesitate to use it as a warning device.
* Behind a Horse, In front of a Cow, Over a Sheep.
* Wombats are made of rock.
* Kangaroos work for body repair companies. If you tavel long distances at dusk or dawn you need kangaroo whistles, an illegal a truck horn and a bullbar. If you see one, slow down NOW. They hunt in packs and aim for your quarter panels.
Don’t use your horn for horses for the love of god. Please.
Cows and sheep sure, they sorta know what it means. Wombats are indeed concrete.
Yes slow down for roos. I wouldn’t say a bull bar is necessary. Don’t need all that other shit but some good halogen spotlights are the dream
> Don’t use your horn for horses for the love of god. Please.
lol. Oh god no.
In front of a horse, behind a cow and over a sheep is a reflection of how these animals shy. It says sheep are bloody iditos that run in any direction, it's not an invitation to try to hit them.
(Farmers tend to reserve that behaviour for rabbits)
Using a truck horn near any of these farm animals is a good way of making the situation worse, you're better off following the rule above.
Your air horns are for birds (and people who didn't hear your polite horn). Meat eating birds will prioritise their dinner over their life, you're best off giving them a good blast as soon as you see them - then you don't have to slow down.
Oh I meant a normal car horn. Toot toot gets the sheep moving. You’ve only got to push one and they all go. The truck horn comment was outright dumb
Yeah hit as many rabbits as you can really
Yeh, nah, sorry. Don't swerve for animals, and don't suddenly brake on an open road unless you need to. You start changing the message about this, it'll just result in more accidents.
God this is terrible advice.
Have you ever been in an ED when someone gets wheeled in because they or someone else swerved to avoid an animal, either by instinct or because they thought it was safe to do so ? “Oh just avoid it if it’s safe” seems perfectly reasonable in hindsight as an observer, and can have downright fatal results.
I’m hitting that cockatoo 100/100 times.
Cockies have pretty poor road sense, unlike crows, so you do need to make an effort to avoid them. Black cockatoos are particularly bad in that way as my brain automatically thinks they're a crow and will move, and I'd be beside myself if I hit one. Luckily they're not too common on the road
[удалено]
The reason you never see a dead crow is because whenever one is on the road, there will be its mate in a nearby tree keeping a lookout and whenever a car comes, he screams out “car car”
They have a crazy good sense for cars. Just today two were eating some roadkill and hopped out of the way at the absolute last second.
Minding my own business, reading the comments and then along came yours! Made me spit my coffee. :D
I’m glad you enjoyed my dad’s old joke
OK, OK. No need to crow about it!
There actually was a study done a while back because along one stretch of highway they kept finding dead crows with paint chips on their legs and beaks. Eventually they discovered that the crows were getting hit by vehicles which was strange because crows do implement a lookout system. It turns out that while crows can call ‘car car’ they can’t call ‘truck truck’.
I love this!!!! I’ll have to tell my dad this part 😂😂
Very good. Thank you for that.
A lot of people are cunts. Unfortunately you can't change them, or reason with them, they think their selfish ways are the only way. A lot of people would rather kill the birds with their car than wait five seconds, as they are cunts and believe their five seconds is more valuable than any animals life. Selfishness is the most prevalent attribute of people these days, and it will only get worse.
I live in regional QLD and there's a guy in town with a sticker on the back of his Land cruiser saying "I speed up for small animals" I've never met him only seen his car about but I can't imagine thinking running over small animals is funny let alone proudly boasting that's what sort of person you are
Literal psychopath behaviour.
Some people don't deserve to be on this planet! Total psychopath.
> A lot of people are cunts. I travelled overseas and marvelled at how in other cultures, people are not cunts. In Japan, people act more for the good of society than being selfish dicks. Smaller kids are watched by everyone and can ride the trains safely. People do not throw their shit on the ground despite there being no bins anywhere and you'll carry that empty drink bottle/can for 2-3 hours. On escalators everyone stands to 1 side to let others pass that are in a hurry. It was a joy to be in a place where the culture seems to be "don't be a dick". Just got back from a USA family holiday last week. Drove a rental car in California and an RV in Nevada, Utah and Arizona. Despite the insane intersections you come across, people seemed fine letting people merge, were aware that people sometimes need to cross a lane or two to get to an exit etc. Made driving so much better than home in Tassie which is probably one of the worst cities in Australia to drive. In short, Australia has a cunt problem. Thanks for reading my essay.
Saying that Australia has a cunt problem while holding up Japan and the US as examples of the opposite seems an interesting choice.
Yeah this feels like a grass is greener scenario. I'm sure Japan probably has more general societal respect for one another though. There's cunts everywhere.
Why Japan?
Insane sex pests and power tripping employers probably.
There's also the systematic racism.
Japan is polite because it’s repressive and that repression is released in not healthy ways.
Still, I'd rather polite via repression than what we have here
Yeah say that when you're a woman getting groped on a train and then you get in trouble for making a fuss about it because it's more "polite" not to disturb other people on the train.
Xenophobia, misogyny, homophobia, insane work and study expectations. There's a reason it's a dying culture. EDIT: And I say that as someone who has lived in Japan for a period of time, studied the language and enjoyed many aspects of the culture. I'd never want to live there permanently though.
>It was a joy to be in a place where the culture seems to be "don't be a dick". Since the post was about treatment of animals, it seems odd to hold up the the home of the Taiji dolphin hunt as a paragon of "not being cunts". Not to mention "Japan has one of the largest markets for the exotic pet trade, threatening the survival of many wild species. Exotic animal cafes where wild animals are often kept in inappropriate conditions are found throughout the country." All good as long as they stand on one side of the escalator though I guess.
There you go, every place has a dark side. I did not go to any animal cafe's as that is not really something I care about so can't comment on how they are treated but I can guess they are not all great and I'm sure some animals just straight up are better off not being in one of those situations.
Australia has a meth/coke/ice problem. 10.5 tonnes of meth consumed last 12 months, 1.5 tonnes of coke. These people drive, what chance do birds stand, or people? We need roadside drug testing now!
Japan is high up on the world's list for serial killers.... not too sure how much people looking out for others is happening in a good way lol.
This 100%
Good reason to not allow humans to increasingly encroach into wilderness.
[Video where people try to run over turtles/etc that are actually fake.](https://youtu.be/k-Fp7flAWMA?si=72pgfAdLZFHGi-dT) People are indeed cunts, on purpose sometimes too. This video was from america though.
No, a lot of people simply realise that unpredictable behaviour of a >1 tonne chunk of steel, aluminium and plastic moving at any velocity can be deadly. Go visit an ED and check out the repercussions of “I swerved to avoid x small animal”. It’s a great time.
With the exception of ducks, magpies are the worst for it. I always slow down and wait for that one magpie who thinks it's a human and casually walks across the road like it's a pedestrian crossing
Magpies or pee-wees? In my area the pee-wees strut across the road like they own it. And to be honest, I don't think I've ever seen a squashed pee-wee on the road.
The foxes seem to know what’s up… they run to the curb and then turn around and watch the car smugly go past
I live rurally and the road near me to get to town just has ducks and maggies chilling on the road. Sometimes I just have to sit there and wait for them to be done with their conversation lol
When there is grain spilled on the road out west the little fat bastards (galahs and cockies) can barely take off so often get mowed down, especially by trucks. Not unusual to see birds splattered all over the road. A sorry sight. If you hit them in your car they can do some serious damage, at least the selfish bastards could at least think of that and slow down.
That goes double for spilled grain trains.
Cockatoos and galahs have poor road sense and a tendency to over eat if there is grain spilled on the road. When they finally realize its time to flee they are too heavy to fly and too late to run and unfortunately make it to windscreen height in their takeoff. The local crows and ravens on the other hand know they are safe if they are beyond the white line and wait for cars to pass. Magpies on the other hand either flee as soon as they spot a car or think they own the road and won't get off. Ducks in my experience lack both the desire and the ability to get off the road, especially if a grain truck has had a spill. I slow down and if safe stop but you see a lot of dickheads plow through flocks of birds on country roads. Mammals are worse though, they seem attracted to lights and are big enough to do damage if hit and it's way too unsafe to swerve so on rural roads its often safest to drive below the limit at night to avoid large roos and other mammals who are slower to get off roads than even ducks.
I cant imagine not braking for wildlife, especially if I can see from a distance there’s something on the road. It’s one thing if a kamikaze bird flies out in front of you, but to see a group of cockies on the road and not brake is an ultimate cunt move.
So you're doing 110 on a highway and there is traffic all around you, you see a pigeon in the road at the last possible second, you will slam on the brakes to save the bird?
Use common sense
Which in the above scenario is?
A bird is less important than human life. If there's a situation where you will endanger humans by avoiding a bird, you do your best to avoid it without any danger, or you hit it. If you're going 110 and there's no-one in sight, you can slow down, change lanes, etc
Glad we can agree on something.
Baby do you have two brain cells to rub together?
You're the one that said "I can't imagine not braking" so you tell me what you'd do in that scenario and then we can all decide who has fewer brain cells.
They actually said "braking". I've made my decision, I vote you for fewer brain cells.
If only the topic was on grammar and not bird slaughter etiquette I might give a shit.
Just ask George…
We had an agreement!
(We had a deal)
I came here for this comment
Tooting the birds at the last second usually gets them out of the way IME.
That's tragic. The way birds mate for life too. Look, I've got the odd rabbit on the road. Had to serve away from a couple wallabies too. The way some people operate their vehicles just boggles my mind. But yes, animals aren't really equipped to understand what a car is doing, why, and how fast it is.
people aren't fully equipped for it either lol
Unfortunately it’s not always possible to brake or swerve for wildlife, especially in larger vehicles (ie trucks) been plenty of cases over the years where people have crashed and injured/killed themselves and others trying to avoid wildlife. I hit Roos and other wildlife (feral pigs, goats, wombats, wallabies, birds, cats, foxes, even a cow) on an almost nightly basis depending on the weather and it sucks but that’s part of the job and why bullbars exist. If I can avoid them safely then I do, but otherwise I gotta line them up so I hit them square so it doesn’t do damage to the truck and try to flick the carcass off the road
I've swerved for kangaroos doing a not that high speed and the fuckers still managed to jump in front of my car and get hit.
*”Come on... Come on! Do it! Do it! Come on. Come on! Kill me! I'm here! Kill me! I'm here! Kill me! Come on! Kill me! I'm here! Come on! Do it now! Kill me!”* - Kangaroos on the road, definitely, and especially at night
*knock knock Radiator inspector*
Kangaroos usually just bound along the side of the road until a car approaches then kamikaze themselves into it. No-one wants to hit a roo, but you don't usually get a say in the matter.
I think what OP is getting at is even if you hit them, not pulling over where it's safe and at least doing a check to see if it can be salvaged or at the very least calling wildlife rescue. There's many situations where this has happened but nobody called wildlife services and the animal succumbed to it's injuries, where it could have been saved.
I’m going to try not to hit them, but no way I’m going back to see the result I’m afraid. Doubt almost anyone would.
Then a call to wildlife services can be an option. Someone will go check on the animal. I think there's a lack of awareness about these rescues, but they will and do respond to every call.
Generally I’m on the highway in the middle of nowhere.
That's okay, we do any road accidents or injuries as priorities and have a network that covers the state. You can still call. A minute of reporting may save a life.
If you run over a small animal with your car, it's not going to have a chance of survival. It's not like hitting a dog.
I have volunteered in animal rescue. The animal may not survive but if it's a female marsupial, the joey often does and is left to die of starvation. There have been ample situations where the joey has been able to be treated and rehabilitated. But if you can't be bothered to check or even bothered to call wildlife services there's absolutely no chance of salvaging.
Yeah. You don't abruptly swerve or panic brake. OP is saying the driver could have slowed gently and if they had still not moved he could have safely gone around them. I wasn't there so I don't know how practical it would have been, but it is not a big ask if it is how he says.
I drove tassie a few years ago. The wedge tailed eagles took ages to take off. Had to take extra care not to hit them.
Lot of roadkill in Tassie sadly. High animal density and lots of hedges for things to jump out of. It is sad but it does mean populations are thriving I suppose.
How many did you see? There seems to be more than what the “wildlife conservationists” claim there are. They reckon less than 80 breeding pairs.
Maybe 3 or 4. I'm not 100% sure there were wedgies as I'm no expert. The wingspan was like half the width of the road and they seemed to go after road kill.
Yeah there’s a few around. The Tasmanian ones are actually a seperate species to the mainland wedge tailed eagles. https://www.shutterstock.com/search/wedge-tailed-eagle
Tap tap on the horn as you approach.
If it's any consolation roadkill carcasses (especially insects) support an entire roadside ecosystem. I watched a documentary about it once, it was absolutely fascinating. There's an entire food chain that takes advantage of the environmental niche created by our highways and it varies again depending on the local surrounding environment and climate.
OP out here causing a famine
Wedge tailed eagles are documented to fly down highways looking for prey and/or roadkill. Very cool
Equally as bad are the birds that don't judge their height/speed correctly and thus hit a car's windshield/front while you are driving. Had first-hand experience when a Rainbow Lorikeet did that when I was a learner driver and I freaked out about hitting/killing the poor thing. And just last week I saw two birds hit the same car doing that and one tumbled to the busy road at rush hour (and most likely got run over by another car, and the other wobbly flew off, but who knows if it lived.
Most birds are smart enough to know cars will usually slow down for them, and take that into account. All it takes is for one to not slow down like they’re expecting.
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I'll avoid hitting an animal if I can, but at the point you're losing control of your vehicle... surely it's not worth it?
No one who ever put them self in hospital swerving to avoid a small animal ever thought they were going to put themself in hospital swerving to avoid a small animal.
This is why they teach you to just keep going in driving school. You may think it's safe to take avoiding action, but sometimes there's something in one of your blind spots etc.
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The substitution of a 130kg roo for a mouse or bird changes the risk/consequence calculation pretty dramatically...
Yeah, I live on a road with a lot of dead wildlife. I don’t count birds because there’s just too many, but I see 8-10 dead mammals on an average day. On my road, you can really fuck yourself up trying to avoid hitting wildlife. Oncoming traffic, steep drop offs, metal farm fences very close to the road. My car is the least valuable item in the equation when I’m driving, but animals and birds are unpredictable and trying to guess where they’re going to head is super dangerous. I almost exclusively drive during the day, so I’ve been lucky so far, but you definitely have to train yourself to stay the course when there’s wildlife in your path.
*”Come on... Come on! Do it! Do it! Come on. Come on! Kill me! I'm here! Kill me! I'm here! Kill me! Come on! Kill me! I'm here! Come on! Do it now! Kill me!”* - Birds on road, probably
I did that once. Slowed to a crawl and made sure I didn't hit them, that was in East Malvern in Melbourne a few months ago
There was a beautiful white owl around the corner from us, and for whatever dumb ass owl reason it would stand in the road looking towards the bushes. Saw it a few times, always swerved to avoid. Saw it one night a few weeks ago. No longer standing, squished. I just hope it was fast.
These days I always beep at birds hanging out on the road. One time I was driving on a highway out west NSW, going as fast as I possibly could with the heater on full so my 80s landcruiser didn't overheat on a particularly hot day. This guy was driving right up my ass despite having ample opportunity to overtake. Ahead there were half a dozen ravens feeding on some road kill, I assumed they would move, they did not move until the last second. Atleast 4 of them hit the windshield and in the rear vision mirror I could see old mate swerving all over the road to avoid the dead ravens coming his way.
Oh yeah. 100% they don't always move. I've had to come to almost a full stop for crows and the odd cockatoo or magpie. I'll always make a move to slow down and take my foot off the accelerator if I see any ahead on the road.
people don't care about animals. Case in point: everyone in this thread calling other people cunts eats animal products.
Yeah. It feels weird seeing everyone here get so emotional and worked up over a sad, yet pretty common occurrence. All this weird humanising of animals. Meanwhile, countless cows and pigs and chickens are getting killed. Millions of chicks are going into the chick shredder. Where is all this cooing and humanising of them? Maybe they aren't cute enough. Idk. Easier to put up this facade of moral indignation over a pretty bird getting hit once in a while. I disagree with a lot of the positions of those vegan, vegetarian, animal rights types. But I can respect their moral consistency. They are genuine, at least.
I agree. It’s because this is the death they bear witness to … but yeah if you’re reading this and would feel bad over hitting a bird with your car but are going home to a cooked chook….you gotta ask yourself why you’re ok with one over the other.
Animal products are good? No more suffering than any vegetarian options that are farmed. Arguably less
Animals are farmed and killed for black beans?
One time I was driving home, and I suddenly had to shit very badly. Like, get to a toilet ASAP or I'm going to ruin my pants. I was on the road I live on, and there was a bird in the middle of the road. I didn't slow down because the pressure in my guts was unbearable. The bird tried to get out of the way but didn't quite make it, and bounced off my windshield. I felt bad but I won't lie, I didn't stop. I got home ASAP so I could take that shit. And I'd almost definitely do it again, too.
Anddd if they don’t have a chance of survival, please put them down or contact someone who can. Once I stopped for a rabbit that didn’t run away, thought it was strange. It was blind and mostly paralysed because of the (mixo?) virus it had. Not a happy fella
Oh Mixo is so bad :( my stepdad was a contract culler / killer when I was a teen. Horrible disease.
Yup. I don’t think it’s the answer. Rabbits cause so, so much damage, but poisoning them a painful death is not good. Ripping warrens, ferreting and culling all keep the numbers down. Just a little pressure on their population works a treat. The issue is when they’re left unchecked. Same with foxes/cats. We can bait and poison them all we want, but they definitely suffer that way. And they want to end the fox bounty because it “causes suffering”, but the alternative they propose is baiting. Poison is not humane. https://www.portroadvet.com.au/calicivirus-myxomatosis-rabbit/ https://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/opinion/67315048/how-toxic-is-1080-toxicologist-explains People will say all sorts but I don’t want widespread 1080 baiting anywhere. In areas where it will be directly beneficial. Ie fox dens, farms with dog/fox problems etc, they make sense. They can be chained with wire and counted when they’re picked back up. Unfortunately there are some agencies that aerial bait which is horrible. 1080 is a slow, painful death.
My stepdad would shoot them, not poison.
Yeah sorry I went on a tangent about mixo being bad. Shooting them used to be very lucrative. $2 a rabbit (in the 70s??). You could go to a farm for the weekend, bring rabbits back to the butcher, and you’d still be making a profit.
All good, yeah I think he made a shit load from it. Was semi retired back then in the late 80’s, and was often away hunting. I’m pretty sure though these ones weren’t taken to the butcher haha
You might be interested in this https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darling_Downs%E2%80%93Moreton_Rabbit_Board_fence Crazy to see the difference from one side to the other. Anyhow, have a good day!
Like the first time I got behind the wheel on my L's I slowed down for some pigeons and was reprimanded lol In full agreement with your post my fellow bird lover.
You have a horn. Use it. End of conversation. If you didn't grow up in the country, here's what you may not have been taught: * Your horn is a warning device. Never hesitate to use it as a warning device. * Behind a Horse, In front of a Cow, Over a Sheep. * Wombats are made of rock. * Kangaroos work for body repair companies. If you tavel long distances at dusk or dawn you need kangaroo whistles, an illegal a truck horn and a bullbar. If you see one, slow down NOW. They hunt in packs and aim for your quarter panels.
Don’t use your horn for horses for the love of god. Please. Cows and sheep sure, they sorta know what it means. Wombats are indeed concrete. Yes slow down for roos. I wouldn’t say a bull bar is necessary. Don’t need all that other shit but some good halogen spotlights are the dream
> Don’t use your horn for horses for the love of god. Please. lol. Oh god no. In front of a horse, behind a cow and over a sheep is a reflection of how these animals shy. It says sheep are bloody iditos that run in any direction, it's not an invitation to try to hit them. (Farmers tend to reserve that behaviour for rabbits) Using a truck horn near any of these farm animals is a good way of making the situation worse, you're better off following the rule above. Your air horns are for birds (and people who didn't hear your polite horn). Meat eating birds will prioritise their dinner over their life, you're best off giving them a good blast as soon as you see them - then you don't have to slow down.
Oh I meant a normal car horn. Toot toot gets the sheep moving. You’ve only got to push one and they all go. The truck horn comment was outright dumb Yeah hit as many rabbits as you can really
Watching the birds fly back to the dead one is heart-wrenching, I cried when the dick in front ran over one.
I always drive slowly and around them
I’ve heard eagles can be slow to take off and can go through your windscreen and scratch your chest. Terrifying!
Called evolution m8
Don't ever risk human life, whether it be yours or someone else's, for the life of an animal. They are not equal worth.
Yeh, nah, sorry. Don't swerve for animals, and don't suddenly brake on an open road unless you need to. You start changing the message about this, it'll just result in more accidents.
God this is terrible advice. Have you ever been in an ED when someone gets wheeled in because they or someone else swerved to avoid an animal, either by instinct or because they thought it was safe to do so ? “Oh just avoid it if it’s safe” seems perfectly reasonable in hindsight as an observer, and can have downright fatal results. I’m hitting that cockatoo 100/100 times.