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LAGUNA BEACH, Calif. (AP) - A rare gull that apparently tried to eat a couple's ice cream was euthanized after the man beat the bird with a stick. Dragan Djuric, 50, of Wichita, Kansas, and his wife were eating ice cream New Year's Eve on the boardwalk at Main Beach when a flock of birds attacked them, Laguna Beach police Sgt. Jeff Calvert said.

One bird hit Djuric's wife in the head and tried to take the ice cream. Djuric was defecated on.

The couple dropped the frozen food and Djuric began hitting the birds with a stick, Calvert said.

One of the birds - a rare Heermann's gull - sustained a broken wing and was later euthanized.

Djuric was cited and released on suspicion of animal cruelty.

Heermann's gulls are on the Audubon Society's watch list for at-risk birds. The creatures are surprisingly aggressive and steal fish from the pouches of pelicans and chase other birds to take their prey, according to the society's Web site.

The estimated population of Heermann's gulls is 525,000.

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SOURCE: The Orange County Register, http://www.ocregister.com
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If it had been me there, I would have just tap the bird with my foot. I would never go as far as to break any bones.

It was only an ice cream cone, he should have just let the bird have it.

the bird's wing whacked the wife in the head and another bird crapped on the guy.

so yeah, i understand he's pissed but that's wayyyy over the top.

why would they euthanize it over a broken wing? they can fix that =/

I can understand him being mad, but still I think it may have been an over reaction. It could be the animal lover in me speaking.

"The creatures are surprisingly aggressive".  Depending on the size of the animal and how aggressive it was being I could see how this would happen.  Imagine you're minding your own business when some big 'ol bird comes pecking at your head.  It would be confusing and frightening, I think it would be natural to strike out at the animal to stop it.  I doubt the man honestly intended to harm the bird.  I would think he would have been much happier if it just went away.

Canadian Geese run wild all over Reno during the winter.  The are so aggressive they will try to fight a car.  When one of those big boys starts charging you and honking at you with that creepy Goose honk...it's scary.  It's human nature to be afraid when an animal attacks you, regardless if it's a bird or a bear.

I feel bad for the bird.  However, there are a lot of ways this could have gone down.  I wish we knew more details.

Quote from: JTchinoy on January 31, 2009, 01:55:00 PM
the bird's wing whacked the wife in the head and another bird crapped on the guy.

so yeah, i understand he's pissed but that's wayyyy over the top.

why would they euthanize it over a broken wing? they can fix that =/

i guess no one wants to put forth the money. :/

Well if it's rare, one would assume WWF or something would put up the cash.

IIRC, the bones in birds tend to be more fragile than in other animals due to their being more hollow and lighter.  My guess is that, if the bones in the wing were damaged badly enough that healing wouldn't have been effective, putting the bird down may have been the more humane option.

Yeah, I would second that part on the wing healing. The bones in birds are made partly hallow and lightweight, and when they break, they splinter. If the wing was damaged enough, there wouldn't be chances of it getting it back, and a bird without a wing is better off dead. I don't mean this in a malicious way, but it wouldn't be able to do anything but live a life of suffering.

As for the guy, yes. That's a huge overreaction, but I don't think him reacting like that is illogical-- it isn't the ice cream, rather, the fact that he was attacked by them, and the fact that they attacked his wife, is enough to really piss someone off and try to retaliate.

Unless it posed a serious risk of harm i'd never beat an animal. So the birds were pecking at them, run away.

ya i would have just ran away not grabed a stick and beat the bird till it was twitching helplessly on the ground

I dunno, i saw on one of the animal planet vet shows when they fixed a raven's shattered wing bone.

I figured a couple months in rehab and it'll be good to go.  Maybe it was just a total mess of a wing that it was fubar status :(

Quote from: JTchinoy on February 01, 2009, 04:55:59 PM
I dunno, i saw on one of the animal planet vet shows when they fixed a raven's shattered wing bone.

I figured a couple months in rehab and it'll be good to go.  Maybe it was just a total mess of a wing that it was fubar status :(

Just because its possible in some cases, doesn't mean it applies to all cases. Let's say that you got an arrow shot in your eye, deep into your brain. A kid was reported to have survived with little damage despite this happening, but in most cases, you're not likely to recover from that damage. That raven's wing bone may have been in good enough condition to be reconstructed, and probably by an accident, but this bird was bludgeoned by a stick, with rage. He's probably not getting it back.

It's kind of hard to compare this sort of thing with humans, because if a guy were to lose a limb... it sucks, but it's not the end of the world. Humans are able to do other things to compensate in their own way to increase their quality of life, with other things. Birds really can't. A bird without a wing is guaranteed a life of suffering and null of a reason to continue living other than the sake of survival. And life for only the sake for survival, isn't having a life, but simply living.

Anyway, I agree that he should've just fled. But not everyone functions the same way, and he didn't exactly do anything wrong per say. (Not going too far into semantics.) People are just thinking he had done something wrong because it was a "helpless animal" and that "it didn't know any better", but chances are, the bird did know the risks, and faced them. If a guy were to go up to an animal that is capable of overpowering him to steal a possession, he'd probably know the risks, and it wouldn't be illogical if that animal attacked him in return. It doesn't matter what the reasons were for doing it-- the circumstances are still the same.

i likely underestimate the damage of a stick beating to a hollow bone :(

RIP bird.

i wonder if the bird actually tried to fly away or if it tried to eat the ice cream on the spot.

I don't think the guy over reacted, I probably would've whooped the birds ass too. And the thing is known for being aggressive... Yikes. I CERTAINLY am not Pro-Animal cruelty.. But F@ck. Getting attacked by a bunch of birds while trying to eat a damn ice cream is F'ed up.

Quote from: L3sli3_Lov3s_Chu on February 02, 2009, 12:39:34 PM
I don't think the guy over reacted, I probably would've whooped the birds ass too. And the thing is known for being aggressive... Yikes. I CERTAINLY am not Pro-Animal cruelty.. But F@ck. Getting attacked by a bunch of birds while trying to eat a damn ice cream is F'ed up.

I stopped there.

Quote from: JTchinoy on February 02, 2009, 12:42:36 PM

Quote from: L3sli3_Lov3s_Chu on February 02, 2009, 12:39:34 PM
I don't think the guy over reacted, I probably would've whooped the birds ass too. And the thing is known for being aggressive... Yikes. I CERTAINLY am not Pro-Animal cruelty.. But F@ck. Getting attacked by a bunch of birds while trying to eat a damn ice cream is F'ed up.

I stopped there.

I don't see what's wrong with her saying that, honestly. Again, I don't find that it's illogical with the guy defending himself and beating the bird. Anyway, even though I'd prefer the non-violent route, myself, I don't blame the guy. I like animals, but I don't exactly pity them. I don't really take much joy from killing, either (surprisingly) so I probably wouldn't have beaten the bird, myself, in those circumstances.

I don't think the bird is some helpless victim, either, even if it was doing it to survive. It died doing something dangerous, and trying to steal food from another animal superior in strength is a life-threatening thing to do-- and guess what? It died. I'm not trying to place humans on this huge pedestal in this situation, but the bird should've known better not to underestimate a full grown man. The guy who beat it isn't some bad guy who doesn't deserve to live because he killed some innocent bird. He killed the bird because it was being a dick to him and his wife, jacked his ice cream, dumped on him, and was attacking them. Whether he did it out of rage, or self-defense, whatever. Either one of them could've won. The guy just happened to have a stick.

I mean, yeah-- it's a pretty crappy trade-off. The guy lost his ice cream, was annoyed, and was crapped on. The bird lost its life for it. But hey, cest la vie.

Quote from: JTchinoy on February 02, 2009, 12:42:36 PM

Quote from: L3sli3_Lov3s_Chu on February 02, 2009, 12:39:34 PM
I don't think the guy over reacted, I probably would've whooped the birds ass too. And the thing is known for being aggressive... Yikes. I CERTAINLY am not Pro-Animal cruelty.. But F@ck. Getting attacked by a bunch of birds while trying to eat a damn ice cream is F'ed up.

I stopped there.

I don't think I would've KILLED the bird intentionally, but if a bird is aggressively attacking someone, what do you expect to happen? For them to say "Oh, hay! It was an accident, pal! It's okay" or retaliate?

and thats why we dont feed the birds or animals...

I'm guessing maybe the birds were used to being fed?

ive seen birds either aggressive or used to being feed food and then they'll pick on people if ppl dont share their food.

I'm surprise the old man was able to strike the bird, ( i would guess bird would fly off in danger of getting wounded let alone get beaten with a stick) so obviously the bird willing to risk its life for ice cream.

all in all, its a pretty strange case of ice cream on a stick.

someone get Harvey Birdman: Attorney at law.  ::)

Quote from: Jerry on February 02, 2009, 01:28:26 PM
and thats why we dont feed the birds or animals...

I'm guessing maybe the birds were used to being fed?

ive seen birds either aggressive or used to being feed food and then they'll pick on people if ppl dont share their food.

I'm surprise the old man was able to strike the bird, ( i would guess bird would fly off in danger of getting wounded let alone get beaten with a stick) so obviously the bird willing to risk its life for ice cream.

all in all, its a pretty strange case of ice cream on a stick.

someone get Harvey Birdman: Attorney at law.  ::)

...

...

Just, no words.

Quote from: Jun-Watarase on February 02, 2009, 02:12:46 PM

...

...

Just, no words.

aww, you could harass me better than that Jun, like call me a bird brain or something.

or wait, i guess birds would be offended by that huh? :P

thats unusual cruelty to birds huh?   ???

I remember about hearing about this on the Woody Show.

He definitely overreacted, but I can see where he is coming from. I live with a bird in my room, yes its horrible but thats not the point. Birds easily get on peoples nerves. I'm not going to say I never smacked my bird on the top of the head for eating my pizza (delicious pizza) or chewing on my walls (yes, the walls), but still, any more then a simple smack is way to much.

Ice Cream is just Ice Cream. It costs, what, 5 dollars at most? Even hitting a animal can be a hefty charge if someone is in the mood to report you. It was not worth it at all.

Anyways...
OMG! Ice Cream Thief!

Seriously though, feeding birds and other animals that are wild is a really bad idea.  It eliminates their natural fear of people and they wind up attacking people over food when they get brave enough.  I think it was sometime last year where we had incidents in a park over in Mtn. View where squirrels were attacking kids and some adults because they were expecting food from them.  Likewise, when I visited the Grand Canyon last summer, they had signs all over the place telling visitors that, not only was it a bad idea to feed squirrels and other animals and why, but that it was actually against the law at the park to do so.

Raise your had if you found the Alfred Hitchcock Movie "The Birds" scary.  Even a little bit.  If you've ever read the story it's based on, that's even worse.

Birds swarming you can be frightening.  The stuff of nightmares and horror movies.

I'm just adding that to the debate.  People don't respond rationally when they're scared.

Dude I don't care who or what you are.  Bird, child, or priest but if you defecate on me AND try to steal my ice cream then I have to cripple you.  That bird had it coming.

Quote from: Stormfalcon on February 02, 2009, 06:57:05 PM
Seriously though, feeding birds and other animals that are wild is a really bad idea.  It eliminates their natural fear of people and they wind up attacking people over food when they get brave enough.  I think it was sometime last year where we had incidents in a park over in Mtn. View where squirrels were attacking kids and some adults because they were expecting food from them.  Likewise, when I visited the Grand Canyon last summer, they had signs all over the place telling visitors that, not only was it a bad idea to feed squirrels and other animals and why, but that it was actually against the law at the park to do so.

Let's start feeding them jalapeños instead! That should (non-violently) teach them to fear humans again! :D

Quote from: HentaiTentacleDemon on February 02, 2009, 08:35:30 PM

Quote from: Stormfalcon on February 02, 2009, 06:57:05 PM
Seriously though, feeding birds and other animals that are wild is a really bad idea.  It eliminates their natural fear of people and they wind up attacking people over food when they get brave enough.  I think it was sometime last year where we had incidents in a park over in Mtn. View where squirrels were attacking kids and some adults because they were expecting food from them.  Likewise, when I visited the Grand Canyon last summer, they had signs all over the place telling visitors that, not only was it a bad idea to feed squirrels and other animals and why, but that it was actually against the law at the park to do so.

Let's start feeding them jalapeños instead! That should (non-violently) teach them to fear humans again! :D

They banned the sale of alkaseltzer to students at the store across the street from my High School.  You really don't want to know what happens when you feed a bird alkaseltzer.  (I went to school with some seriously messed up people)

Quote from: Jun-Watarase on February 02, 2009, 01:01:41 PM

Quote from: JTchinoy on February 02, 2009, 12:42:36 PM

Quote from: L3sli3_Lov3s_Chu on February 02, 2009, 12:39:34 PM
I don't think the guy over reacted, I probably would've whooped the birds ass too. And the thing is known for being aggressive... Yikes. I CERTAINLY am not Pro-Animal cruelty.. But F@ck. Getting attacked by a bunch of birds while trying to eat a damn ice cream is F'ed up.

I stopped there.

I don't see what's wrong with her saying that, honestly. Again, I don't find that it's illogical with the guy defending himself and beating the bird. Anyway, even though I'd prefer the non-violent route, myself, I don't blame the guy. I like animals, but I don't exactly pity them. I don't really take much joy from killing, either (surprisingly) so I probably wouldn't have beaten the bird, myself, in those circumstances.

I don't think the bird is some helpless victim, either, even if it was doing it to survive. It died doing something dangerous, and trying to steal food from another animal superior in strength is a life-threatening thing to do-- and guess what? It died. I'm not trying to place humans on this huge pedestal in this situation, but the bird should've known better not to underestimate a full grown man. The guy who beat it isn't some bad guy who doesn't deserve to live because he killed some innocent bird. He killed the bird because it was being a dick to him and his wife, jacked his ice cream, dumped on him, and was attacking them. Whether he did it out of rage, or self-defense, whatever. Either one of them could've won. The guy just happened to have a stick.

I mean, yeah-- it's a pretty crappy trade-off. The guy lost his ice cream, was annoyed, and was crapped on. The bird lost its life for it. But hey, cest la vie.

It's just me saying I wholeheartedly disagree with the decision to beat a birds ass.

I think you're giving that more credit than it deserves in terms of common sense.  If that birds ever done that before, you can bet that it was either just scared away by the wave of the person's hands or they straight up got away with it.  Given previous experience, risk/reward for jacking food from a human is in the bird's favor.  I don't think the bird will look at 1 particular guy and think, this guy's gonna kill me.

I didn't read anything about attacking them.  I read the wife got hit (likely by a wing), the guy got crapped on, they lost their ice cream.  If the bird was actually attacking them, pecking or scratching with their feet or whatever, I'll agree with you and I would've taken a stick to the bird as well.  But to consider it reasonable to beat the crap out of a bird for the 3 listed actions is absurd to me.

To second Brightheart's statement, people don't think rationally when they're afraid. You're interpreting it as simply... ice cream snatching, crapping, and a hit, or whatever. In that situation, most people would interpret it as them being attacked, and would likely be frightened of what's happening.

Yes, the bird may have thought it was easier from past experiences of people being less assertive, but the risk was always there. You can be some stupid kid playing a game of Chicken by running in front of cars, end up okay each time, and conclude that it's easy sh*t, but the risk of them getting run over or causing an accident was always there. Most people don't know when they're going to die. It just happens.

Thing is, the bird is what instigated this in the first place, and ended up dead as a consequence of its own actions. I'm not going to go "Aw, that poor animal was beaten by a big bad 50 year old man JUST because it took a crap on him, jacked his ice cream, and attacked his wife. Darn. They should just start calling birds "sky kittens" so people treat them better!" If a person tried to start sh*t with an animal that can overpower it, and died, it probably had it coming too.

Personally, I've raised fowl, amongst other animals, and exotic birds. I also live on a federal fish and game preserve. I strongly discourage feeding wild animals. They can and will become aggressive, and will not fear humans. I've gotten kicked, clawed, pecked, rammed, almost trampled, and bitten over a simple thing as smelling like food. Becuase the animals were used to being fed. If they didn't get the food, they'd get pushy. Things like this should be a lesson to people to not feed wild animals. It's unfortunate, and it could have been handled differently, but I am not going to feel sorry for either party.

That is the law of nature. You interrupt it, shit like this will happen. Of course, I highly doubt people will learn from this. Becuase the "Sky kittens" will probably be the victims, and PETA will be suing that guy and his wife for animal cruelty. >:/

I agree, but to add on it, I wish people applied it at the right times.

Like, people should feed to animals that are capable of hunting/scavenging food, themselves, so that they don't become dependent on humans and think it's okay to do so, or that people shouldn't try to interfere and/or save a ton of animals if it'd risk damaging the ecosystem.

But people are able to help, if they see some animal on the urban street that is injured, and would get run over if you didn't help it get out of the way. There's no harm in that. And the fact that, if you have a pet that is raised in captivity, feed it the way you're supposed to-- don't feed it like it would feed in the wild because you think they'd be better off.


Though, if you dig into the semantics, no one was technically wrong in what they did, but you know I normally avoid getting into the semantics. Both did what they did based on the nature of each species. It's human nature to "feel pity" towards other species and try to help them... like by feeding them food, and it's of the bird's nature to be an aggressive asshole and try to jack the guy's ice cream so it has something to eat, and then back to human nature to try to defend himself by beating the crap out of the bird.

I wonder if that ice cream was a Klondike Bar?