How to stop a train

The town of Stowbridge in England came to a brief halt when two swans were too preoccupied taking a stroll on the train tracks to realize they had stopped a locomotive and dozens of cars stuck behind the level crossing.
Impatient commuters watched as the leisurely swans and their two babies slowed the train behind them to a crawl.
Source: https://pressfrom.info/uk/news/offb...ely-family-stroll-over-train-tracks.html

Swans are protected by the Crown in UK. It's a crime to kill one.

and even if they weren't you really wouldn't want to go near a couple with chicks to make em move quicker, they can be seriously vicious!!

They can be intimidating,especially in large groups like we have patrolling our local river looking for people to mug for food.

So swans are the British equivalent of cats in ancient Egypt. Got it!!!

Did any watch the video in the link? Not a care in the world.

Yup,zero f**cks were given that day.

Geese around here are just like that. Rarely does anyone kill one, but I did see where someone must've plowed through a gaggle and killed 4 on the 4th.
I guess that train had just pulled out? I don't see how it could've stopped.

between 2 reasonably close stations i think, so it would have been going pretty slowly anyway

I've never understood those who can gleefully plow through animals with abandon. I've heard comments over the years from folks who "step on the gas" when a squirrel leaps out in front of them. Flabbergasting. Geese land in our neighborhood a couple times a year and it is not uncommon for them to stroll down the streets. Very cute, like those swans.

Maybe the conductor should have got out and opened and closed his umbrella repeatedly while shouting, "Shoo! Shoo!" I don't know if that would would have worked, but they said he made a pass, likely not a full-hearted one, though.

Worked in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade!
Geese do get really old to have around, but it's mainly the fault of people who go out and feed them. They learn where to be, get fed bread (that's unhealthy for them) and never leave. It gets to be a big problem. There's so much crap left behind them they have to shut down parks around here and harmful algae grows in the water where they stay congregated, causing further issues.
Still, it speaks to the character of the person that kills wastefully, without reason and enjoys it.

Yep, Canada geese do this in lots of places. I have seen it many times here in VA, USA. I have also seen the same thing with turtles in the spring a few years ago. I have also seen it with deer just around the corner from my house.

We have very large flocks of galahs, a parrot about the size of a large pidgeon, and they often sit on roads in country areas where grain or feed trucks have spilled food. Any decent person slows right down, but occasionally you see where some feral has just ploughed through a flock killing dozens of them. Makes me sick of humanity sometimes. Swans are protected in the UK because they were reserved for the table of the King/Queen. Any commoner nicking one went straight to gaol.

My youngest son 'Swan Upping' at a sanctuary a few years ago.



Last winter as a volunteer at a Wildlife Rehab Centre I helped release some swans that had been recovering from salmonella. Nearly had a head-on collision in the narrow lanes with very heavy swans shooting forward to pin us to the windscreen if it hadn't been avoided.
On carrying them to the water's edge one of the swans got his feet out of the restraining bag and took off down the slipway. If he managed to escape, with his wings still restricted he would not off survived. My intrepid companion on this expedition launched herself into the freezing January river to successfully recapture him. (I wasn't being ungallant! As full-time staff she was insured to take the risk )