DISCLAIMER - I am not planning on fighting a pelican.
there’s a brown pelican that hangs out on the railing of a very narrow portion of a boardwalk nearby. the only reason it makes me nervous is because it’s huge, but their nails look short, and their beaks are pointed, but curved downwards so they would have to try to bite me with that long thing instead of pecking me.
like, if a bird capable of clawing or eating my eyes out attacked my face, I’d honestly have no qualms about killing it immediately. but if I ever get attacked by a pelican, it looks like I could just kind of hold it off without having to hurt it. am I right in that?
you’re a great ape somewhere between 150 and 300 lbs. It’s a 15 pound bird. I’m sorry but this is embarrassing.
I actually have wrestled a bit with a pelican and can say that if you’re prepared to take a few scratches you’ll be able to hold one down. You just have to hold the beak and wings, once you’ve got it pinned their legs are too short to really get at you.
Admittedly the pelican in question wasn’t operating at full potential (recovering from a wound) but I was in my early teens at the time so wasn’t exactly an example of peak physical performance myself.
Real answer?
Don’t fight the pelican. The law is on their side, for one thing.
No I don’t think you could hold it away from you without hurting it or you. No I don’t think it has any intention of harming you, unless you are a fish. Walk on by, it will either just sit there or fly away.
Bird law in this country is not governed by reason.
Does the pelican have a gun?
idk but in this neighborhood, probably
OP is going to get so rekt’d.
DISCLAIMER - I am not planning on fighting a pelican.
I need this on a T-shirt.
Seriously, this is the best thing I have seen on the Internet in a long time. It’s like I’m in 2013 all over again. Lol.
You could get that printer on a T-Shirt very cheap online.
Probably better to pay more though as when I’ve done this with cheap ones they don’t last.
it should be like “I’m not planning on fighting a pelican”
Nah, I like the original way more.
“I’m not planning on fighting a pelican” comes off as “well, I’m not planning on it, but it could happen”,
while “I’m not planning on fighting a pelican” comes off as almost a political statement: “Statement: I do not have plans to fight a pelican.” like a politician at a press release.
I feel the latter would confuse people more. Lol.
during the first women’s march I wore a shirt that said “nobody for president” and everybody loved it including the counterprotesters
Abe Simpson Voice “I’m a nobody!”
I thought the exact same thing when I read the title and first line. Post of the year.
We were on a Zoo trip during summer camp, me and my brother and a bunch of other kids from our judo class. Mostly early teens.
Certain areas in the Zoo had free roaming animals, mostly kangaroos, emu, peacocks, some ponies, goats and sheep. A couple kids had the great idea to pester the pelicans. Pelican are a funny bunch that keep begging for treats with their giant beaks open and waddling around. They look less than threatening, although they have that frowny looking eye.
Anyway the kids decided it’d be fun to take turns spitting into the beaks of one particular giant pelican instead of giving it treats. It didn’t really like it but the kids kept persisting, daring to lean in closer and closer into the pelican’s wide open beak. Finally my stupid little brother in the spur of the moment thought he’d show the other kids how it’s done. He ran up to the pelican, leaned in really close and spit the most nasty wad into its beak. At that moment the pelican turned its head sideways and
*** CLAP ***
I’ll never forget the sight of my brothers head being completely engulfed by a giant beak.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
The grab only lasted for a blink of an eye. My brother didn’t even have time to realize what happened and struggle against it. He came out with a surprised and slightly scratched face. The surprise turned into a grin and then laughter within seconds.
Nevertheless, the pelican gained the respect from the kids and they’ve stopped pestering it. But somehow I imagine that this is basically the worst they can do. Give you a stereo-slap on your ears with their beak. You are safe against that brown pelican.
Be glad it’s not a cobra chicken.
Those people are assholes. Like I was a prick when I was younger but never to animals and doing stuff like this.
Just be glad your brother isn’t a pigeon or other similar sized bird. A pelican can and will swallow smaller birds whole!
Ok so my experience comes from catching chickens and clawed ducks as a child, so assuming you’re a full grown adult, and this chart, the ratios are the same.
You gotta catch them from surprise, from the back, but it sounds like you’re already in the fight if shit goes down. The beak is your issue. The wings are just a distraction. Get the pelican bastard from the neck, as high as possible if you can and try to grab the legs. ChatGPT says they don’t really use their legs to fight, but worst case, start swinging it. I bet once you clamp on the beak, it’ll be hard for it to open. Like how alligators can chomp down, but have trouble opening. Once it’s subdued, it might stay freaked out for a while. You just gotta hold it until it accepts defeat.
Then take it to your mom and she’ll take the head and feathers off for dinner.
Best of luck brother.
What’s it going to do? Swallow you? Lmao. It can try. I don’t see how it can intentionaly hurt an actual human.
You can never plan to fight a pelican. It just happens. We’ve all been there.
I don’t live in a place that’s even remotely hospitable for pelicans but you’re right. It just kind of happens sometimes. Like a fact of life
it’s a long-standing tradition. all official pelican fights must be a surprise
deleted by creator
right punch the pelican in the face with another pelican. that’s how you win
I haven’t. Did I miss much?
I’ve been attached by geese though.
Emotionally or physically?
Rejection hurts 🤕
I’m gonna let everyone in on a lil secret.
You can absolutely fuck up a bird. Their bones are hollow and light, making them super kickable. Even a 4" human still has multiple feet of height over most species of bird, meaning you can wind up a solid kick and still probably send whatever beaked menace is after you flying. If it comes for your eyes or face, even your weakest punch will give it pause.
Now, defending yourself from a bird attack without harming the bird attacking you? Yeah that’s really hard, because most of your immediate reactions like trying to grab or restrain it will likely result in hurting the bird.
Except for swans… which are giant geese. Those two are very durable.
At least one person has died from being attacked by a swan while kayaking.
Realistically, if that person had no regard for the bird, they could’ve just grabbed it and strung it’s neck.
“Maybe he didn’t want to hurt the animal,” Hensley’s father-in-law, George Koutsogiannis, told the Sun-Times. “Maybe he didn’t fight back enough when the swan attacked him…I can’t understand how this was possible.”
A single swan can’t actually physically overpower a person, but people can panic and make bad choices, especially when in water and confronted with aggressive wildlife.
That’s why I specifically said ‘while kayaking’ but also I’ve cared for geese, roosters, and swans.
Ever been attacked by any of those animals? I have. Roosters are the worst. They have these sharp spikes on their legs that draw blood. I’ve kicked a rooster with everything i had because it was spurring me and going for my face. Itd didnt just die, thing kept coming at me. I kicked it several times without holding back and it just kept attacking. Took two people to catch it so i could get in my car. The rooster was fine. I was scratched to hell.
That rooster was small. Now imagine a goose or swan with the same attitude.
I’ve worked many farms and those birds don’t fuck around. If youre so confident by all means fuck around with those birds and find out. I won’t stop you.
Geese and swan don’t have anything sharp, and I’m sure had you wanted to, you could’ve grabbed the cock by the neck and wrung it without it being able to actually kill you.
Annoying and perhaps even need medical attention for scratches? Yeah. KILL YOU?
Nah.
I think you’re misunderstanding me here.
The way birds attack is basically the embodiment of chaos. Grabbing a flapping, sqwaking, incredibly fast and pissed off bird isn’t easy, near impossible. I wanted to snap that roosters neck, and tried to grab his fucking legs as they coming at me. Needed help that day lol
I used to have to catch these bastards and put them in the coop every night. It was my least favorite part of the job. The hens were a delight, loved them. Roosters and geese can fuck off though.
Sure, one might not kill you, but add in a body of water, slick mud, obstacles(things geese and swans are around frequently) ect and someone can definitely get very injured or die because they got knocked over and hit their head or whatever. Plus they’re really goddamn aggressive and that can surprise people.
Exercise caution, and don’t underestimate them my friend.
The image of a 4 inch tall human towering over a bird amuses me.
And where were they now The little people of Stonehenge And what would they say to us If we were here tonight
I had an incredibly aggressiveale duck that would come after me all the time. He was big, like 20lbs at least, and I’d kick him in the chest with the side ofy foot when he came at me all angry like. His chest was the meatiest part of him, so I wasn’t worried about damaging him with kinda wimpy kicks. Bastard became soup real quickly, though. Overly aggressive birds in my flock don’t get the privilege of being pets.
I too have a chicken-kicking story. Posting now so’s I’ll remember to write it out later.
Now do Canada Goose.
Canadian Geese are how I got this experience, I used to live in a town that they regularly migrated through and got into two scraps with them in my youth. They’re one of the few birds that I have zero sympathy fucking up, because both times they tried to attack me, I was just trying to quickly get through their territory with my lunch.
If you’re ever attacked by one, aim for center mass and give it as much force as you can. I’ve never had geese swarm me after seeing one of their comrades get obliterated.
did you know that one of the reasons their bones are hollow is because they assist the lungs with intaking oxygen to provide all the oxygen needed for flight? it’s not just weight saving
TIL, that’s really neat.
What about a horse sized duck?
how badly could a pelican fuck me up in a fight?
DISCLAIMER - I am not planning on fighting a pelican.
there’s a brown pelican that hangs out…
Poetry.
Actually, wait…
how badly could a
pelican fuck me up in
a fight? DISCLAIMER
.
I am not planning
on fighting a pelican.
There’s a brown peli-
Pelicans have stupid stumpy little legs, basically no talons because they have webbed ducklike feet, and are able to apply very little biting force with their beaks due to the length. Pelicans feed by scooping things up and swallowing them whole. They don’t bite, tear, or chew. I’ve never seen one try to peck anything. They’re certainly not built for that.
If you grabbed a pelican by the beak I think there is vanishingly little it could actually do to you aside from squirming and flapping feathers all over the place. You should be fairly clear to yeet the thing into the ocean at your own convenience.
I left this open for a while and forgot what post I was reading when I returned, so I misread your first sentence as “politicians” rather than pelicans…
And lemme tell you, that was a quality chuckle.
I’ll gladly throw a politicican beak first, just point me in the right direction!
Haven’t seen it mentioned here, so a word to the wise: their beaks are somewhere sharp-edged, and if you were to grasp the beak and your hand were to slide lengthwise (towards or away from the tip), you could sustain a nasty cut.
Source: adolescent me harassing pelicans that were a lil too inquisitive about my days’ fishing catch on a dock somewhere near Cedar Key, FL.
Hey fellow Keys guy! Grew up partly on Summerland Key
Some real advice
good to know. was it like a bad, dirty paper cut?
It was precisely like a bad, dirty paper cut that stank of fish munge.
Tasty
Nice to hear Florida Man has a voice. You, sir are a legend :)
My knowledge of cartoon physics tells me that birds are essentially immune to any damage. If you punch them in the beak it will just spin around until they, using their opposable thumbs, adjust it back into place. If you punch them in the neck you’ll just leave a temporary fist shaped aberration in their spinal cord which will quickly snap back into place. Aiming for their feet or body is futile since they’ll just instantly dodge your attack by flexing their mass dramatically out of the way and instantly counter with significant emotional damage.
It is a fight you can’t win good Sir or Madame.
what is it’s pelican season?
It’s right after pony season.
They immediately change the sign
Paprika or poultry?
I wouldn’t worry to much about pelicans. Fun fact - pelicans try to eat people sometimes. They basically try to eat every animal, because they have no sense of scale for their food they can swallow. And they don’t risk much by trying - most large animals have the same incredulous reaction we do
They are not very bright birds nor very quick ones. They are also not very agile. And as a bird, they have hollow bones and you could kill them with a solid fist to the chest… I once saw the aftermath of two shin high dogs tearing one apart. On a small balcony. There was blood everywhere… The dogs were covered in it, completely uninjured and very pleased with themselves
I wouldn’t worry, even if they have the sharp bits that could injure you, they lack the instincts to use them properly
there’s a video out there of one trying to eat a duck
I need to find this.
And a capybara
And a pigeon. It succeeds in that one.
there’s one of a Holstein cow successfully eating baby chickens.
There’s more than one video of horses eating a chick.
There aren’t many videos out there of creatures trying to eat a capybara.
It takes some ferocious kind of predator to even attempt it.
capybara get eaten in the wild all the time. average lifespan of a wild one is 4 years, and the primary cause of death is predation. they can live 10 years in captivity
their main form of defense is reproducing about as quickly as rabbits. they are sometimes competition for grazing land, but South Americans usually farm them if they’re a pest, rather than exterminating them, as they are very good meat animals. the Catholic Church classifies them as fish, so the more Catholic of community is, the more of them they’re eating (Catholics aren’t allowed to eat meat on friday, and somebody along the way decided fish weren’t meat. it wasn’t unusual to write the Vatican with a description vague enough to get something declared a fish; both the capybara and beaver were classified as fish because the people submitting the request just emphasized the amount of their lives they spend in the water), and there’s a medicinal grease produced from their skin that they use like petroleum jelly.
but South Americans usually farm them if they’re a pest, rather than exterminating them, as they are very good meat animals
As a South American… Eww! Are you getting your facts from ChatGPT?
Catholics aren’t allowed to eat meat on friday
Again, as somebody that was grown catholic, where are you getting that from?
Mostly large snakes and jaguars eat them. Otherwise, nothing is really a danger.
the first fact came from the Bristol Zoo, and the second from Archbishop Bernard Hebda.
You might want to check that first source again.
About the second one… WTF? You’d wish to consult your Catholic traditions from some Catholic authority. Not whatever that is. But the first paragraph is almost normal, stick to it.
May I subscribe to Pelican Facts?
I have no idea, but I really hope some genius on Lemmy creates a simulation of this fight so we can all have a great time watching it.
This is what gen AI was born for
There you go!
Not many people know that even the God of War himself needs a wingman
AI still struggling with hands I see
Yeah. It’s better than it used to be- you can get a reasonable output far easier than you could previously, but if it’s going to fuck up anything it’s going to fuck up the hands.
