Predators in cars - Deserve to be treated the same way?

Predators do not have to be critters. My wife and I were following a white ute last week and suddenly it veered to the edge of the road. Target: a family of ducks walking along the edge of the road.
Just one of life's intellectual giants.  Pity we were so shocked that we did not think to get his car registration to give to the police.

Fortunately the Duck family survived.  We see lizards, tortoises, snakes and others that have obviously been hit because some A***hole lined them up.  Sad really.
Will be getting the DASHCAM sorted so we can get them targeted by the local constabulary.  

i wish i could say stuff like that doesn't happen here.
I've seen people aim for turtles crossing the road. if i see the critters I'll stop and get them off into a field.
good idea about the dash cam though.

It's worrying that people like that exist.  Unfortunately the Police probably don't have an offence to charge them with except maybe erratic driving? Nothing that could make them take their car keys off them and lock them up.  I really don't want to get inside that mind.

Nancy Reading wrote:It's worrying that people like that exist.  Unfortunately the Police probably don't have an offence to charge them with except maybe erratic driving? Nothing that could make them take their car keys off them and lock them up.  I really don't want to get inside that mind.

Lucky that's not the case here, the local DNR officer will chase up anyone that deliberately harms/kills wild life around here.

I loathe and despise public shaming on the Internet. The mob mentality is horrific and destructive. And yet, if I had footage I might be tempted ...

Nancy Reading wrote:It's worrying that people like that exist.  Unfortunately the Police probably don't have an offence to charge them with except maybe erratic driving? Nothing that could make them take their car keys off them and lock them up.  I really don't want to get inside that mind.

In Australia, the RSPCA (Our animal welfare service) has the power to investigate and bring cruelty charges.  I would not put a post of the incident(s) on social media because the A***holes do not deserve any public kudos from their toe rag mates.
Thanks to all for your thoughts and comments.

Yup, you're right.

When I was a kid I had a big puppy named Brutus. One day he found a cat and the chase was on. Apparently,  the cat lived across the highway because she made a beeline for home.
Some little, red car came barreling down the road. It actually left the road and was on the shoulder aiming for Brutus.
When that sportster hit Brutus pieces of his front end went flying. It tore the hell out of the car.
He didn't stop. He didn't dare. Me and my dad watched the whole thing. Dad ran over to his old pickup and gave chase. He was gonna give that POS a taste of his own medicine.
Dad came back empty handed. He was hotter'n than two rats jumping in a wool sock in August. He grabbed a splitting maul and split a couple of big pieces of firewood to calm down. Ain't never seen that man that mad before.
I think back on that now and wonder what would have happened had dad caught that joker. Probably just as well he didn't.

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I nearly hit a family of ducks crossing the highway years ago. I had driven to an adjacent town in search of a few pieces of baseboard to match the existing baseboard in my house. I was coming back with my loot when I decided to pass a car that had slowed slightly. As I came alongside the slower car I realized that they had slowed to allow the ducks to get across. I didn't hit them but it was close enough that I felt sick to my stomach. I looked over at the cheap MDF baseboard propped up on the dash beside me and realized that I nearly killed a family because I had to have a perfect match in my perfect house.
Once renovations were complete, we sold the house, gave away the car and now we live in a yurt within walking or biking distance of town. I never want to be in that situation again where it is so easy to jeopardize a creature's life for a frivolous whim.

Out here, I've seen people aim deliberately at everything from goats to cows to dogs.  Its' not just wildlife.  I'm firmly convinced that people like that would run you over if they thought they could get away with it.  I make a note of who they are and then avoid.  Their behavior tells me everything I need to know about them.  You can tell a lot about a person by how they treat animals.

I do wildlife rescue.  I am the one you call when you see someone hit something on the road, or you unfortunately hit something.

Rarely is it the driver who calls, me, maybe 5% of the time.  Often the animal or bird has been laying there, sometimes for days (I got a raccoon once - the fellow who brought it in had driven past the "carcass" for three days before he saw the raccoon move), on the roadside, and it is by chance someone notices and calls.

I am the crazy lady running around the road with the butterfly net trying to catch the 'invisible' ducklings (whose Mum was slaughtered by driver who did not care enough to make a call) you can't see as you whiz by.

I am the crazy lady trying to catch the injured seagull on the highway, drivers are intentionally aiming for - how can they NOT see me, in a bright orange reflective safety gear, waving a giant net, but can still justify trying to run down the critter I am in the midst of trying to rescue?  Seriously, sometimes I think it is some sick sort of "kill it before she can catch it" game....it is downright scary.

So, sadly, yes.  Most folks simply are so desensitized, it is literally a "game" to try to kill things by running them over; or is it the driver is more ticked off about damage or 'mess' on the vehicle...  It is a very sad commentary on, I suspect, North America in particular.

****Please consider taking the time, right now, to figure out WHO you will call if you come across a wild creature in distress.  Check with your vet, Fish and Game, Conservation, Animal Control/Shelter...they will know who to call, write it down/put it in your cell.  Also, consider keeping an old pillow case with a zipper or elastic/string to tie it closed, in the glovebox (and write the contact information of your local rehabber on it); they are super compact, yet can be used to safely contain most creatures (birds, reptiles, small mammals) or used to cover the eyes of a larger animal (deer) to keep them calm.

Douglas Alpenstock wrote:I loathe and despise public shaming on the Internet. The mob mentality is horrific and destructive. And yet, if I had footage I might be tempted ...

I suspect some people won't learn. I don't like it either, especially as a "tool" to "teach" children, but I know, because I know people like that, some people don't care, and refuse to learn anything because it offends their sensibilities. It means that they're wrong, and to their minds and worldview, that is unacceptable.

I don't understand it, and don't want to internalise it, personally, although I guess I can reason it out. In any case, a lot of the time, I think fear of public shame is the only thing that keeps some of these people from doing these things, from acting in irresponsibly privileged ways that end up with good, innocent people harrassed, jailed, or shot because they are found in contravention of the way these people think things should be.

Lorinne, I wish you could wear a body cam, and have a sign on whatever vehicle you use (I am assuming you use a vehicle) advertising the fact that passersby are on camera. It might not help for the truly dumb, especially if they regard reading with the same contempt they view life, but it might be evidence for you to use at need. I hope you never need to, personally, but it might be a thought.

I was originally thinking about you walking around with a sign sticking up from your back saying, "Drive politely,  I'm armed," but that might get you in trouble. I don't think it would go too far, though. In my less charitable moments, it occurs to me that some people would do more good for the earth as compost.

Then, of course, they wouldn't learn anything, which is probably a fate worse than death for those who consider being wrong inexcusable.

Ooh! I just had a thought! Animatronic caltrop decoy animals! Nothing complicated, just realistic animal figurines, enough to fool malicious assholes that would leave their lanes for the shoulder to hit defenseless animals. They hit the decoy and it collapses into a tire-destroying mess. Maybe it takes out the rim, which would be just lovely. If they don't veer off the road to do a damn immoral thing, they don't lose their tire, their rim, possibly their car, and potentially their worthless lives. Seems a fair situation to me, except that someone innocent in a vehicular emergency might run over one in a legitimate accident.

I do not suggest anyone actually does this, just in case someone does and then blames me. I would love to see such instant karma deployed, but maybe we should just send the offenders on car trips through moose country in mating season and see where their adventures take them.

-CK