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Once on a kayaking trip, I experienced an angry bird encounter. It was a swan, not a turkey. The lake was small and really muddy. The only viable path through
by nathell 4y ago
Once on a kayaking trip, I experienced an angry bird encounter. It was a swan, not a turkey.
The lake was small and really muddy. The only viable path through it was through the small patches of reasonably clear water by the east side, but not having noticed that, I and my partner rowed ourselves into the mud.
The swan was large, female and obviously protective of her herd of cygnets, squeaking somewhere from within the reeds. She got real close and made angry noises at the kayak, waving her wings at us. She would swim away and then start an aggressive run at us, literally running on the mud, braking just inches away of our bow. We protected ourselves, the person in the front holding the row as a weapon, the one in the rear trying to frantically row ourselves back to clearer water.
In the end, we were towed out to safety by another, more experienced duo of our group. But I learned to never underestimate a swan.
- huffmsa 4y agoSwans are deceptively large and aggressive, though it's a myth that they've broken people's arms. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-17736292 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-17736292
- dahfizz 4y agoYeah, this doesn't even pass the sniff test. Swans weigh less than 30 pounds and have hollow bones. If they managed to impact you had enough to break your arm, all of their bones would shatter. In general, birds have high intimidation stats but super low damage stats. Geese and swans are aggressive and mean, but they can't do anything to actually hurt you. The exception is birds with talons.
- loudmax 4y ago> In general, birds have high intimidation stats but super low damage stats. These stats are Tier Zoo ratings, I presume? https://www.youtube.com/c/TierZoo/videos https://www.youtube.com/c/TierZoo/videos
- dahfizz 4y agoI think it's a fun way to conceptualize the capabilities of different animals, yeah
- christophilus 4y agoI had one bite my hand once. It wouldn’t let go, so I grabbed its neck and pulled it away. Those things have seriously thick, meaty necks. It was like grabbing someone’s arm around the biceps.
- Schroedingersat 4y agoAustralia and New zealand have black swans. They're capable of breaking limbs by hitting you with their wings (edit: this is a myth, but they still effing hurt). I used to go sailing on a lake, and sometimes the males would assume having sails out was a territorial display and attack a dinghy.
- cafard 4y agoOn the C&O Canal towpath once around Great Falls, I encountered a bunch of geese, with goslings. One or more started to hiss as I got closer. I was wearing thin running shorts, socks, and shoes, and I really did not want to take on an enraged goose. I also did not care to take a detour through brush I knew to be full of poison ivy, so I turned around, I suppose a couple of miles earlier than I had meant to. One of the friends I encountered turning back had been bitten by a goose, and said that it was as if somebody had grabbed his flesh with pliers. He thought I had been wise to turn around.
- 1234letshaveatw 4y agoI have been bitten by Canadian Geese several times at a popular waterfowl feeding spot at a nearby river (yes, I know feeding them is not ideal). It really isn't that bad, not much worse than a duck bite. They really excel at appearing threatening
- olyjohn 4y agoThey are totally fearless. I remember my dad was driving his 1974 Impala past a park and 2 geese game running up in front of the car and hissed at us. This was a big ass 70s land boat of a car, and the geese had no qualms about making us stop.
- ruste 4y agoYou lead such an interesting and different life than me to have been bitten by enough birds to have comparison points. How did you get here?
- jasonkester 4y agoDucks, geese and swans will happily eat bread from your hand. It’s pretty normal for them to grab a bit too much and get your thumb in the process. It’s seldom fatal.