A safety alert at a suburban train station has left commuters anxious and alert on their way to and from work this month.
Like many areas in Australia at the moment, Richmond station, on Melbourne’s Lilydale-City line, has become a breeding ground for vicious flying magpies and plovers.
A stark warning was spotted by a commuter on the digital timetable on his way to work, who took a photo of it and shared it on Reddit to warn others.
The sign read: “Passengers, be aware of birds swooping in the area.”
“Even the train stations aren’t safe,” the commuter captioned the image.
A safety alert at a suburban train station has left commuters anxious and alert on their way to and from work this month
The bird breeding season runs from July through November, so commuters should be free within a few weeks. Magpies nest their eggs and young in large trees, while plovers prefer large open areas such as parks, ovals and fields.
The post quickly went viral, with thousands of commuters commenting on their own scandalous diving moments.
“I was shot for the first time at Richmond Station. I had headphones in and on the first dive I had no idea what was happening. The second one grabbed me and I looked up and the bastard made eye contact with me,” one man said.
“I got attacked by a magpie in Richmond, a little scratch on my face,” complained another.
‘Come to the eastern suburbs, especially Cardinia Road Station, and take a walk around the Lakeside car park. That’s where I hunkered down for the last time,” said another.
And it’s not just the typical swoopers either.
‘My wife was attacked by a crazy Kookaburra. I saw it with my own eyes, grabbed the chicken schnitzel sandwich straight from my wife’s mouth and flew away with it,” one man wrote.
Another said he was ‘quite hurt’ when a kookaburra did the same thing to him.
Others made dramatic statements.
‘Nowhere is safe. Everywhere is dangerous. We are entering the end times,” one commenter wrote.
“Look into the beady, soulless eyes of those things and try to tell me Satan doesn’t own one at any point,” another added.
Some referred to the emu war, where birds flew rings around the Australian army.
‘The emus have won the war, we must accept our place in Australian society. Birds are our overlords,” said another.
